Jackie E-S is the owner of HeartStrings FiberArts, a showcase for her growing roster of original pattern designs. As a certified master knitter and teacher, Jackie continues to share her love of knitting and knowledge through design and publication of skill-building pattern instructions, and conducting workshops, programs and demonstrations. Her interest in the fiber arts extends beyond knitting and spinning to include weaving, dyeing and all needle arts. She also enjoys contract bridge and music.
I didn’t even realize that I wanted this plastic grocery bag holder until I happened to be surfing around the web (has that happened to you?).
Grocery bag holder
This slim holder has given me the satisfaction of de-cluttering, and it is good looking, too, I mounted mine on the wall behind my back entry-way door.
I was able to instantly free up a shelf that had been cluttered with bags. The slim design fits behind my back door in space that would otherwise not be used.
I used the suggestion of a commenter on Amazon to roll the bags like a sock before stuffing them into the top of the holder. That way, it’s easy, peasy to grab an individual bag from the front slot on the way out to the garden, or the garbage, or whatever.
The handsome sleek design is an extra bonus to feeling good about recycling and organizing in style.
The Day Dreamer – The joy for you is the anticipation and the search. You dream of the ideal project as you surf books, magazines and the internet in search of that illusive project that will match the vision in your inner soul.
The Collector – The joy for you is in the yarn shopping for the phantom project that may or may never come to pass. Even putting a gorgeous skein of yarn on display as a centerpiece on your table, or a basket arranged with pretty balls of yarn, would be enough to give you satisfaction as a project well done.
The Dabbler – The joy for you is getting underway with needles and yarn in hand to become friends with your yarn. As you sample and swatch, the feel of fiber through your hands as it transforms into even the simplest of fabrics is enough to satisfy your longing to find another best friend.
The Starter – The joy for you is seeing those first few inches of your yarn being transformed into the beginnings of the final knitted item you envision. It’s oftentimes a struggle to keep interest going beyond that, and your project was really destined all along as an UFO (unfinished object) rather than the completed sweater, or sock, or whatever that had originally been your intent.
The Long Distance Runner – The joy for you is in the process; the miles and miles of yarn that run through fingers as the project grows keep you in that continual feeling of euphoria. You know there is a finish line, but are not necessarily looking forward to when it is time to stop.
The Finisher – The joy for you is seeing the last few stitches being released from the needles. If you are a lace knitter, there is always a magic moment at the finale when the lace is blocked out to show all of its airy beauty.
The Gifter – The joy is in the giving, whether it is to someone else or even yourself! The project was meant to be used or worn all along, and that is the whole reason you set on the journey to make the item to begin with.
Feel free to share your thoughts and comments. I appreciate your time in completing the survey question. I will run a tally and announce the results when I close the survey later this month. Stay tuned to what’s going on at HeartStrings by any (or all) of these communications:
the brand new, just getting started HeartStrings FiberArts Facebook page (click “Like” to become a fan and automatically be alerted of updates through your own Facebook account)
the Jackie E-S “Taking Time to Smell the Roses” blog (which is where you are reading this now, so take the opportunity to subscribe through your RSS reader or include my blog in the blog roll of your blog)
I love to see projects that people have worked up using HeartStrings patterns. And I do count myself fortunate that I can actually see. There is a reason for that statement, so read on to find out why.
Here’s winter-themed inspiration that should be right in keeping with the snowy weather that a good part or the country has been seeing. They are Beaded Winter Wonderland socks knitted by Joy Cyr (and yes, those are tiny beads that she has knitted into her lovely socks). She actually sent me pictures and comments almost a year ago. I have since then had it on my to-do list to tell you about them — sometimes I can be terribly slow! I hope that you will enjoy seeing and hearing Joy’s story as much as I have.
Joy Cyr's Socks
“I wanted to thank you again so very very much for transcribing the beaded chart for the Winter Wonderland Socks for me. In an act of rampant self indulgence (I still had gifts to make but they were going to be Very late anyway) I cast on my first cuff on Boxing Day and enjoyed every moment of making my Gorgeous socks. I got held up along the way but was able to wear them on January 24th, (my birthday) for the first time. That made it a celebration all by itself. I adore them! They are lovely and you’ve placed the beads so well that I can see the design without anyone having to explain it to me. Unfortunately the piece of yarn I carried along for the snow at the bottom was too close to the off white (undyed wool) colour of the socks themselves to show up, but I only found that out after I was into the foot and I can’t say it damaged my affection for them in the slightest. My Mother kindly took the pictures of them for me and now that she has sent copies to me I wanted to share them with you. I am Really grateful for your help. (So is my Mother, now that she’s seen them she wants a pair for herself, and another as a birthday present for a friend of hers, … guess my summer knitting has been taking care of!)”
Isn’t that heart-warming? Well, it is to me … because, you see, Joy is totally blind. Remember when I blogged earlier this year about “Anyone can see … (not)“? This is the knitter I was referring to in that article. I do hope you will also take a few moments to browse and enjoy Joy’s original artwork at www.tigerfeathers.ca
“I look forward to making many more of your patterns and want to thank you again for making them available in an accessible format. It is wonderful to be able to make the kind of pieces one enjoys working, giving and wearing. It is also much more comfortable to feel confident in the description of the finished item, and the quality of the instructions.”
Joy's Socks
Thank you, Joy, for sharing with us. And an early happy birthday to you! Can you believe almost a whole year has flown by again?!
The Winter 2011 TNNA Trade Show is just a few days away. This TNNA Show Preview (click the link) will help with your plans for covering the showroom floor so that you don’t miss what’s new and exciting for HeartStrings. The preview highlights the vendors who will be representing HeartStrings at the show and what they will have to entice you.
Long Beach Convention Center
Long Beach, California
January 8-10, 2011
I personally will not be at the show this time, but I do plan to myself be back in the action again at next June’s show. Here’s a photo of my exhibit booth at the last show. KyleAnn is my able assistant at the last several shows. She is a great knitter and designer in her own rights, and a good friend, too.
While my design process has become more streamlined with practice, seeing how other people manage the organization end of things can be helpful. In what order does a design develop for different people?
For me, the order in which a design goes from concept to completion is seldom a straight-line course. There is ebb and flow, and gradual refinement toward an inner vision — many steps (sometimes backwards), time, patience — in plain words, work.
The process started with a request from the yarn company, Colinton Angoras, to design a project with their lace weight Australian kid mohair yarn. We discussed their goals and parameters of such a project, e.g. scope and price point from the knitters point of view (i.e. small quick project vs. a larger showcase piece), difficulty level, additional materials needed such as beads, etc.
After receiving the project yarn, my next step would normally be to make a plain swatch to nail down the yarn’s behavior both during the knitting and the finishing/washing (e.g. range of knitting needle sizes, degree of blooming/halo after washing, etc.). However, I actually had already worked with this yarn several months prior when I made swatches for the TNNA Great Wall of Yarn. I’d made up both plain swatches (which I turned into bunnies for display at the yarn company booths) and patterned swatches (for display on the GWOY itself). This was a lucky break in saving some time now, as I’d kept good notes and photos (which is one of those discipline things that comes with practice, too).
First trial project swatch
The first trial project swatch was to get a feel for placement of beads and nupps, behavior of the biasing fabric (see those pretty swirly edges?), resulting gauge after blocking, and estimated yardage requirements for total project.
If you have not hear dabout nupps, they are sort of like bobbles but different. I have it on my list of to-do’s to make a video tutorial with tips for making nupps without tears. They really are a lot a fun once you get the hang of it.
Trial swatch for shaping
The next picture is the swatch I did for testing the side shaping for the eventual truncated triangle shape of the shawl/stole White Lotus Stole design. At this point, I was still undecided how to handle the interior eyelets of the Lotus blossoms, so if you look closely, you will see minor differences.
The final photo is the finished stole. Rather than just knitting a long rectangle, this stole is started at the bottom edge (blocked to about 30”), then increases to a blocked 72” at the top edge. My blocked length was 24”. Of course, you could add or subtract repeats to the pattern and knit longer or shorter based on your preferences and yarn/needle choices.
White Lotus Stole
Related Images:
Behind the scenes with Jackie E-S and life at the HeartStrings FiberArts studio.
