The Joy of Creating....

 

After a long time of not really knitting, I have been picking up the knitting needles more frequently and actually working on some knitting projects. First, it was my contracted work that needed to be finished and then it's the knitted toys for this year classroom. But over the past weekend, when I was stuck home being sick and not able to do much, I picked up the strange glow in the dark yarn by Lions Brand and decided to knit something utterly joyful. Few years back, when I created the knitting pattern for a dog's cowl, human infinity scarf and a hat for I Like Knitting Magazine, I wanted to make a cowl for my dog. He already owns a pillow with his name, so why not to create a cowl with his name.

There was a snowstorm over the weekend, and being sick as well, I had plenty of time to knit for fun. First, I needed to calculate the number of stitches I had to cast on, so I could knit his name, and the paw prints as well. Once I have figured that out, I started. It took me about six hours of knitting, but here is the finished cowl. My dog is fine with wearing the cowl on his daily walks.  It even glows in the dark, once you use a flashlight and charge the glow in the dark yarn. 

I have a one more skein of the glow in the dark yarn, and I will create something else with it. Stay tuned for the next adventure, visit my website Stanascrittersetc website or follow me on Instagram Stanascrittersetc. 

Thank you for visiting.

Happy Crafting to All!

 

As another year comes to end, we tend to reflect on the past year and make plans for the upcoming year. I hope that yours was a good one. Mine was filled with work and reading, and some crafting as well. I didn't publish too many new patterns over the past year, but I hope that there will be more to come in the upcoming year. I did manage to knit frog in a sweater for each child in the last year class. It was a fun project, and I have used up a whole lot of scrap yarn. I am hoping to knit another group of toys for each child in this year class. I do not want to knit frogs, and I have spent quite some time thinking about what I should make for the kids. Over the winter break I started on my parliament of owls. We shall see how successful I will be in this project as I am still working on a sample for a pattern that will be published later next year by a third party.   

Thank you for all the visits to my blog and sticking out with me on my crafting adventures. 

May the next year be a good one!

Fall 2024

 

This is my favorite time of the year. The months are filled with wonderfully warm sunny days, yet the mornings can get a bit chilly. I slowly take out my knitted pieces and wear them each and every day. The colors of leaves are just spectacular, and I enjoy the precious moments of being present. I think about different knitted items that I would like to add to my wardrobe, and what I already have. I also start to think about knitted gifts and what should I create next. 

I have totally missed the toy mystery KAL that I wanted to create for the last days of summer entering into the first days of fall. Life outside of my knitting bubble happened and I just didn't have enough time. At the moment I am working on a design for a third party to be published next year. Once this project is off my knitting needles, I hope to revisit my toy mystery KAL. In the meantime, there are plenty of knitting patterns that you can choose from. For example, this cute broomstick, a perfect half hour project for some leftover yarn. The pattern is available here on my blog, or anywhere my patterns are available.

Thank you for visiting.

Summer 2024

 

My summer project is to knit another rattlesnake. I was asked to make one, and I looked through my yarn stash and picked up the yarn in the colors I wanted to use. I have not started to knit the snake, yet and now I have a bit of deadline to finish this project, simply because I was procrastinating. 

After a year of missing, I am again participating in the Ami-a-long, an event for knitters and crocheters to create toys using the patterns from participating designers. Post about it on Ravelry, and be eligible to win a pattern from the participating designers. Ami-a-long group on Ravelry has more information in regard to who is participating designer and all the details.

As soon as I finish the rattlesnake, I should be able to concentrate on the next toy mystery KAL. I will post more details when I have everything ready. 

In the meantime, I hope that you have a fun filled summer. 

Thank you for visiting.

Stana

Knitted Frogs in a Sweater Project

 

I have been busy with a really fun project over the last few months. Here is a full class photo of 21 frogs in sweaters with a larger frog as a teacher. Last year when I started to work full time in the education field, I was thinking about knitting a little toy for every child in the classroom. Somehow things didn't work out as by the end of the school year I had five frogs finished. So, last year the children each got a new book and a bookmark with their picture holding their favorite book. I thought of trying to knit the toys for each child this year, and I made a frog here and there, using up scrap yarn from previous projects. Somewhere around the beginning of January I realized that I only needed to knit 3 frogs each month for the next five months in order to have a whole classroom. I challenged myself and in early January I started to really work on this fun knitting project. I have finished ahead of schedule and the frogs are ready to be given away at the end of this school year.  I am not sure if I will do another knitting project like this next year, perhaps completely different toys or maybe something else. 

At the moment I have returned to my sketches for the next toy mystery Knit-a -long. Stay tuned for the next fun toy mystery KAL. These knitted frogs were actually our last year toy mystery KAL. 

The pattern is Fran and you can find it in all places that my knitting patterns are available.

Thank you for visiting.

The Journey Ahead....

 

It snowed here. It is something that usually happens during the winter months with regularity. Last winter was a rather strange as we didn't have any significant snowstorms until March. The kids at school were super excited for the snowstorm, as our winter break has been rather wet and gloomy, without any sunny days. The snow blanketed nature looks gorgeous, and everything seems to slow down. I really love those days, when we can enjoy the snow, and then have a cup of hot cocoa and freshly baked cookies. The days like these also call for a new knitting project to start. I started on a snuggly pillow for a friend. What are you going to make? Something warm for yourself or something fun, like a flat squirrel bookmark or a bunch of snowballs? 

Pictured in this blog post are, Snowballs, my first ever published pattern by a third party in 2012, the Bramble Cowl, a one skein of yarn cowl with simple yet gorgeous pattern, and Squirt, the squirrel bookmark. All patterns are available on Ravelry, Lovecraft, and some on Payhip. Links on the side bar or in the List of my published patterns.

I am making plans for this year new knitting patterns and I already have started to make sketches for my new fun mystery knit-a-long. Stay connected on the various social media, or sign up for my newsletter:

Stanascrittersetc

Thank you for visiting and reading. 

Still here, working on one stitch at time.....

 

Staircase to....

This image is one of my favorites. I took it few years ago at an old castle in Czech Republic named Pernstejn. If you ever have a chance to travel to Czech Republic, this is a wonderful place to visit, as it's usually not overrun by tourists. The castle has been used by movie makers as a setting for several movies, especially fairytales. The castle has been on my wish list for many years, but the opportunity to visit always seemed to slip away, until few years ago, when I stayed at my friend's place who live nearby, and finally I was able to see the castle. I hope to return to visit this castle again at some point in life, but more importantly I want to visit my friends again. I visited them this summer, but the castle didn't fit our itinerary, so hopefully the next time....

This brings me to my knitwear adventures. I still create and knit and write patterns, just at much slower pace than I used to. The blog posts are less frequent, my toy mystery KAL happens about once a year and the time seems to never be there for all that I would like to create. 

I am working on a flat version of my Paw Print Heart pattern, and this should be published and available within a week. I also am participating as independent knitwear designer in two major events that happens around this time of year.

On Ravelry it's the Indie Gift-a-long which runs to the end of this year and participants can win prizes. This year there are over 250 independent knitwear designers and thousands of knitting and crocheting patterns. 

If you are not on Ravelry, then the Fasten Off might be for you. This event is held entirely online and there are about 100 independent knitwear designers who offered their patterns. You can participate in games, meet fellow crafters, and win prizes. 

When I started this blog in 2011, I really didn't know what to expect and I definitively didn't imagine that one day there will be more than a million of visitors to this little space online. 

Thank you all for visiting, reading, and believing in my craft, ideas and creativity. 

I will continue one stich at time.

  

The Headaches of Medical Bills....

 

Another one just arrived yesterday. 

This year has been rather stressful, and my knitting has been mostly on hold. I cannot find the energy or time to knit. The stress of having my husband out of work and without any income since January is not helping. Earlier this month, when I went to an Urgent Care with a chest pain and was refused to be seen, I had to go to ER instead. I was worried about the chest pain, not the medical bills at that time. 

Now the medical bills started arriving. Even though we are lucky to have a health insurance through my full-time job, it's a rather high deductible insurance and we have to pay most of the bills anyway. The unbelievable high medical bills here in the USA force people to create GoFundMe pages as they struggle to pay their regular bills and the medical bills as well, while sometimes they cannot even work. A good friend of mine is dealing with the uncertainty of his child's long recovery from a serious car accident as well as the devastating medical bills the prolonged hospital stay at an ICU will cost. I am truly at loss on how he must feel. Below is the link to my friend's child GoFundMe page. 

My friend's child GoFundMe Page

I still hope to host the toy mystery KAL sometimes soon. It might take a bit longer than I anticipated, but there are more than 300 other knitting pattern that I have created over the years, which you can either purchase or are available as free patterns. See all the places where you can buy my patterns on my website. Stana's Critters Etc

As always, I am grateful for any purchase you make as it helps me to continue to create one stitch at time. 

Thank you.

A brief note

 

Hello everyone,

Every day I keep thinking about sitting down and writing a blog post. Yet somehow it has not happened yet. My knitting adventure has taken a brief break over the past few months. I tried to keep up, but life got busy with other things and there were days when my knitting needles were left untouched, and I couldn't manage to make a single stitch. It wasn't that I lost a joy from knitting and creating, but the time just wasn't there. Life happens sometimes. 

We all try to do our best, and as I am adjusting to everything, I try to find few moments here and there and continue with my knitting adventure one stitch at time. 

My new toy mystery knit-a-long is slowly getting ready, and I hope to have it all done soon. So, we can have some fun mystery knit-a-long towards the end of this month. 

Sensory Caterpillar is my latest knitting pattern created for Knitpicks IDP program. When I have more time I will add the pattern to Lovecraft, Knitpicks, and Payhip. In the meantime, you can get the pattern on Knitpicks website, along with the yarn. 

Thank you for visiting.

For some little snippets of my life, you can follow me on Instagram: @stanascrittersetc

All the best....

 

to you all, who continue to read my blog throughout all those years, or who stopped by to check out my free knitting patterns. I hope that your year of 2022 has been a good one and you are going to have pleasant and safe last days of this year. 

As another year is coming to an end, I look back to what I have accomplished as a knitwear designer. When I started this blog in March 2011, I didn't know what to expect and where my knitting journey will take me. It has been eleven years since I published my first knitting pattern. Although it didn't turn to be my full-time profession, I still continue to create and publish knitting patterns. As I mentioned in my newsletter, I am creating at a slower pace than before. Life is full of surprises. 

 

I hope to create another toy mystery Knit-a-long for the beginning of the next year, and also some new wearable items as well. In the meantime, you can still browse my previously published 320 knitting patterns and I hope that it will inspire you to keep on knitting, one stitch at time. 

All the best for the New Year!

Thank you for visiting and reading.

Winter Cowl - Malabrigo Quickie

 

Winter Cowl is my latest published knitting pattern. It is a part of the popular Malabrigo quickie program. The pattern calls for one skein of Mechita yarn. 

You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry: Winter Cowl 

Payhip: Winter Cowl

and soon it will be also available on Lovecraft website. 

I love how the honeycomb pattern creates a 3D appeal yet is simple enough for new knitters to cable knitting and I really like the polished look of I-cord edges. I have created this pattern for Malabrigo quickies, and the cowl uses one skein of fingering weight yarn. At first, I made couple swatches of the honeycomb pattern in heavier yarn weight, and I really liked the 3d appeal to it. But when I made the same pattern in the fingering weight the 3D appeal kind of disappeared and I had to adjust the pattern to keep the 3d visual appeal even in the fingering weight yarn. You can see the different swatches in the picture bellow. From left to right it is the fingering weight yarn, sport/ DK and worsted/ Aran weight yarn. 

Bellow you can see the two samples of the fingering weight yarn cowls in Malabrigo Mechita in two different colorways. 

Thank you for visiting and reading.

Update

 

This Stripy Poncho has been my favorite top layer during the autumn days. A free pattern is available here: Stripy Poncho

The past two months have been a blur. My life outside of the knitting world took over and I didn't have time to knit or think about knitting for some time. The few brief moments I had over the past two months I spent working on the new upcoming design. The work is almost finished, and the new pattern will be available next month. 

Few of my knitting patterns were published in the past few months: 

In October issue of I Like Knitting magazine you can find the Gulia Knit Pants: a cozy comfortable pants knit from top down in the round using the long changing colors of Cascade 220 Superwash Wave using two skeins of yarn and changing them every few rounds to create the stripes within the changing color wave. See photos bellow by I Like Knitting 

As a part of Twelve weeks of giving by Knitpicks my Parliament of Owls Hat is available for free: See the screenshot of an email I have received about the pattern:

I hope to able to pick up my knitting needles more and enjoy the creativity that comes with making something one stitch at time.

Thank you for reading and visiting.

For snapshots from my life, you can follow me on Instagram: Stanascrittersetc

Fun activities

 

This summer I am one of many participating independent designers in two fantastic events, happening on Ravelry and also elsewhere on social medias.

I would like to mention both here.

After a few years of not being held, the Ami-a-long started at the beginning of July. It runs through the end of August. You can knit or crochet a toy from the participating designers, and you can win prizes. There are games to play and just fun critters to create. More details are in the group on Ravelry:

Ami-a-long

The second event I am participating is called Around the World Stitch Along. I have participated in the same event last year and am one of many wonderful designers again this year. This event started on Monday July 25th and ends August 25th. Once again you can knit or crochet any project from the participating designers and be eligible for prizes to win. There are also fun games on Instagram and in the Ravelry group you can chat and learn about different traditions from around the world. 

Around the World Stitch Along 

I hope that you will join these two events and learn something new, create something with your hands and maybe even win one or more of the fabulous prizes. 

I have teamed up with Cascade Yarns and one of the prizes to win at the Around the World Stitch Along is my pattern for Brie's Cowl and Cascade Yarns will provide the yarn to knit this two colors brioche cowl. You can see the original sample in the picture bellow:

Thank you for visiting.

Knitting Patterns for Pillows

 

Here is a group photo of eight knitted pillows. I have created five different knitting patterns and they were part of KnitPicks' April IDP showcase. The patterns are available on KnitPicks website, see link bellow: 

My patterns on Knitpicks Website

Finally, I have added the patterns to my Ravelry designer page: 

My designer page on Ravelry

You can purchase any of these patterns on Knitpicks or on Ravelry. On Knitpicks website you can also purchase the yarn I have used for the pictured samples.

At some point I will add the patterns to Lovecraft, but it might take few more days, or weeks. 

In the meantime, I wanted to mention that I am participating again in the Ami-a-long 2022. It's a fun event where people knit or crochet amigurumis and toys and post about them in Ravelry group and other social medias. By posting in the Ravelry group you can win patterns.  

Link to Ravelry Group

Thank you for visiting and have fun knitting!

Behind the scenes...

 

Here is a sneak preview of two patterns that will be published in June. Today was the day to take photos of the finished samples and our dog was very involved as always. 

There have been many different blog posts about how much time it takes to create a knitting pattern. How much money a knitting pattern should cost, in order to be profitable. There is never a good way to predict if a pattern will be successful and the designer will earn enough money to cover the cost of creating the pattern and if there will be a profit for the designer in the end. 

These two patterns are going to be a part of Knitpicks IDP showcase in June or July. Therefore, I have received a yarn support to create these two patterns. In order to be a part of the IDP showcase, I had to create a submission and submit it for consideration. To create a submission, you have to knit a swatch, draw a good sketch and take photo of the swatch and create the submission on a computer and send it out. That takes several hours, and sometimes the submission is not accepted. With these two submissions I was lucky, and they were accepted, and I received the yarn support. It took me about three weeks to create these samples. Technically, the actual knitting was less than three weeks, but I have other commitments, like work, house choirs etc. that occupy my time as well. I have to type up the patterns using my notes, and I had to send the pattern to my technical editor. After the initial editing, I spent more time on the patterns, and sent it to the editor again for another read through. After that there is the last editing and the photography. For these two patterns it was about seven hours of computer work and photography so far. Now I will be looking over the photos and pick the best, and if they are not good enough, they will have to be retaken and once all is ready it has to be uploaded and send to Knitpicks and then added to the other variety of websites that I have my patterns available on. It will take another two to three hours at least of computer work to have the patterns ready. 

I am not sure how much money I will make in the end of these two patterns, if it will cover the cost for the technical editor, and even if it will cover the time, I have spent working on them. In the end it all comes down to the fact that I just really enjoy knitting and creating with yarn. I even knitted the cover for my writing portfolio that I presented in order to graduate. 

  Thank you for visiting.

 

Grande Gatto and Cleo.

 

Grande Gatto II

Grande Gatto was originally created for jumbo weight yarn. The yarn company discontinued the yarn and sent me a replacement yarn to create an update to the pattern. I love to create toys in cotton yarn as it has proved over the years to be durable and last well through the years of play time, washing, and travelling. Therefore, I have picked two cotton yarns to held together to knit the new samples. I have used the Billow and Snuggle Puff yarn by Knitpicks for the samples. The first sample was knit as the original. Due to the yarn and needle size change the toy turned out to be about 10" (25.5 cm) tall. I created a second sample, and then a third sample, which came close to the original Gatto size of 15" (38 cm) tall. 

The pattern is updated on Ravelry, and you can purchase it here: Grande Gatto on Ravelry. 

You can also purchase the pattern on Payhip: Grande Gatto 

Sometime this week I will add the pattern to Lovecraft website, and the pattern will be also at some point on Knitpicks website.

Cleo

Cleo, is our next toy mystery KAL. During the next week I will add the pattern to Ravelry and create the timeline for the clues to be released over the period of 3 weeks. 

I will add the link to the pattern here: 

The pattern will be discounted during the period of toy mystery KAL, and there will be a coupon code for the subscribers of my newsletter to get the pattern for free. Visit my website to sign up for the newsletter to get the special discounts and savings.

Stana's Critters Etc

Once the mystery toy KAL is over the pattern will be priced as my other toy patterns and will be added to Payhip and Lovecraft website. 

Stana's Critters Etc on Payhip

Stana's Critters Etc on Lovecraft

Toys, toys, toys....

 

Toys and more

I have to admit, my favorite knitting projects are usually toys. I love to make them and even more I enjoy giving them away. Sometimes I get to do special requests toys that require me to be creative and use more than just knitting needles in order to capture the image or an idea. In the collage picture above, you can see some of the toys I have made over the past few months. 

The large picture has our dog posing with a large teddy bear and a small cat. They were both Christmas presents for two small children. The two dolls in the bottom corner were created to replicate drawings of a young artist, and they were received with a huge smile on the artist's face. The cat in the top corner was made for a colleague of mine at work. One day we were talking, and he showed me a picture of this peaceful looking yoga posing cat and I tried to recreate that image, while adding the coloration of his own cat.  

At the moment I am working on a new toy mystery KAL. I have to get the PDF files ready with all the clues and set the dates and hopefully it will bring some smiles to anyone who will participate. I will post more information as soon as I have everything ready. Here is a sneak preview of the yarn I am using for Cleo.

Cleo, toy mystery KAL

I spent yesterday evening knitting a new sample for my older pattern named Grande Gatto. Here is a link to the original blog post about the pattern. The jumbo weight yarn that the original Grande Gatto was made in has been discontinued and I have received new yarn from Knitpicks to give the pattern an update. The original Grande Gatto made in jumbo weight yarn measured about 15" / 38 cm, the new resized Grande Gatto is about 10" / 25.5 cm, which is still a decent size for a huggable toy or a cool decoration. It might be on a smaller size as a pillow, but I may make another sample with different stitch counts and rounds to make the Grande Gatto closer to the original size. 

Grande Gatto

Grande Gatto

Thank you for visiting.

New Patterns and more

 

In my blog post from September 2020 (read here) I talked about how my love for knitting and creating started. You can see a photo of my first finished sweater, and in some way my first design of a sweater, even though it was created only to fit me, and I never dreamed of becoming a knitwear designer at that time. 

photo by I Like Knitting

This is my 304th knitting pattern, Helena Cable Cardigan published in February issue of I Like Knitting magazine. The pattern is free for the subscribers. 

link here to the I Like Knitting website

Helena Cable Cardigan on Ravelry

Update on Helena Cable Cardigan

photo by I Like Knitting

For the pictured sample I have use the Cascade Yarns Aereo Tweed in Marine colorwork. It's a snuggly mix of Merino and Baby Alpaca yarn that was a pleasure to work with. 

Two of my previously published patterns are now available as Ravelry downloads and will be shortly also on Lovecraft website and in my Payhip store.  See pictures bellow of the Cuddly Cat Pillow a whimsical pillow and Brie's Cowl an introductory brioche technique in the rounds.

photo by Interweave Knits

photo by Knitpicks

Also, during the last year, I had few more patterns published by I Like Knitting: 

First in August 2021 Issue two patterns for pillows:

Zion Canyon Pillows on Ravelry

Zion Grotto Pillows on Ravelry

photo by I Like Knitting

In September 2021 Issue it was a Raven Plaid Poncho.

 Raven Plaid Poncho on Ravelry.

photo by I Like Knitting

Once the rights to these patterns are reverted back to me, I will add them as PDF files to Ravelry, also to Lovecraft, and Payhip.

My 305th published knitting pattern is a whimsical instant gratification project named Monogram Gift Heart.

At the moment the pattern is available as Ravelry download, and will be added to Lovecraft, Payhip and Knitpicks website. The pattern is written for variety of yarn weights, from fingering all the way to bulky, and has charts for all the letters of the alphabet, a paw print and a written-out direction on how to knit the hearts. It is a perfect project for those long gloomy and cold days as it will brighten up your day as you work on the monogram heart, and it will definitively bring a smile to anyone who will receive this little gift heart. You can play with different letters, creating words and messages.

Happy Knitting.

Thank you for visiting.

A year of knitting...

 

This is a picture of a ball of scrap yarn from my last year of knitting. I started this ball last January. I am not sure what I will do with this scrap yarn. Previously I have made a cowl, an infinity scarf, and a pillowcase. The links to the patterns are provided above and below you can see the finished projects. They all used the tiny pieces of yarn that usually gets discarded as too small for anything. I collect them and tie them together with a knot and when there is enough to do something I pick a project and start knitting. I am not sure yet what I will do with the ball of scrap from my year of knitting. I have yet to decided it. In a way these scraptastic projects are also a little knitting diary, as when I look at them, I can remember what projects I was working on, one stitch at time. 

There are so many of my patterns that I have not mentioned here on my blog, that were published over the past year, including the latest knitting pattern for the Helena Cable Cardigan in February issue of I Like Knitting. I hope to catch up on that over the next month or so. 

Stay safe, healthy and enjoy the work in progress one stitch at time.

Thank you for visiting.