Happy Holidays!

Look for my knitwear designs in
Interweave Holiday Knits 2010 (out now!)

Spring 2011 Interweave Knits
Summer 2011 Interweave Knits

Karma Ballet Slippers
by
Shelley Gerber

The new Interweave Knits Gifts 2010 is here!

I am pleased to announce that my first published pattern is out!

This magazine is packed with great projects, so pick up a copy at your local bookstore, or at

www.interweaveknits.com

I would love to hear what you think of my Karma Ballet Slippers.  If you knit them, please share your photos!  I will post them on my blog (with your permission, of course).  

Have a wonderful holiday season!

Shelley

Interweave Knits Gifts 2010 is Almost Here!

Here's a sneak preview of my Karma Ballet Slipper pattern from the new Interweave Knits Gifts!

You can purchase the magazine directly from Interweave here:

http://www.interweaveknits.com/holiday/holidaygifts2010/gift-preview-2010.asp

You can also find it at your local bookstore in early November.

Karma Slippers
Shelley Gerber

Finished Size About 6 (7½, 8¼)" from back of heel to tip of toe, to fit a child under 10 (child 10+ years and women’s U.S. shoe sizes 5–7, women’s U.S. shoe sizes 8–10). Note: Child’s larger size and adult’s smaller size are the same size. Beaded slippers shown in 6" length, fuzzy flower and bunny slippers shown in 7½" length, and beaded flower slippers shown in 8¼" length.
Yarn Main slipper ShibuiKnits Highland Wool Alpaca (80% wool, 20% alpaca; 246 yd [225 m]/250 g): #220 peony (beaded and fuzzy flower slippers) or #229 mulberry (bunny and beaded flower slippers), 1 skein.
Edging for beaded slipper ShibuiKnits Baby Alpaca DK (100% baby alpaca; 255 yd [233 m]/100 g): #1675 pagoda (orange), 1 skein.
Embellishments Beaded flower ShibuiKnits Baby Alpaca DK (100% baby alpaca; 255 yd [233 m]/100 g): #7501 ivory (MC), 1 skein, and ShibuiKnits Silk Cloud (60% kid mohair, 40% silk; 330 yd [302 m]/25 g): #7495 wasabi (CC), 1 skein.
Fuzzy flower ShibuiKnits Silk Cloud (60% kid mohair, 40% silk; 330 yd [302 m]/25 g): #1605 dragonfly (MC) and #7495 wasabi (CC), 1 skein each.
Bunny ShibuiKnits Baby Alpaca DK (100% baby alpaca; 255 yd [233 m]/100 g): #1765 blossom (MC), 1 skein, and ShibuiKnits Silk Cloud (60% kid mohair, 40% silk; 330 yd [302 m]/25 g): #7501 ivory (CC1) and #7495 wasabi (CC2), small amount of each.
Needles Slippers and beaded flower—size 8 (5 mm). Fuzzy flower and bunny—size 2 (2.75 mm). Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.
Notions Stitch holder; tapestry needle; pins; ¼" elastic (optional); 48" of ⅝" wide ribbon (optional).
Beaded slippers Size G/6 (4 mm) crochet hook; sixteen ½" silk flowers; 16 red crystal beads; sewing needle and matching thread.
Beaded flower 32 champagne-colored crystal beads; 32 ivory pearl beads in assorted sizes; straight pins or head pins; round-nose jewelry-making pliers; jewelry-making wire cutters; size G/6 (4 mm) crochet hook; sewing needle and matching thread.
Fuzzy flower 14 teal crystal beads; sewing needle and matching thread.
Bunny Size B/1 (2.25 mm) crochet hook; stuffing or batting; black and dark pink embroidery floss; sewing needle and green thread; 8 green crystal beads; eight ¾" silk flowers.
Gauge 18 sts and 32 rows = 4" in garter st.
Beaded flower 18 sts and 22 rows = 4" in St st with MC.
Fuzzy flower 32 sts and 64 rows = 4" in garter st with yarn doubled.
Bunny 30 sts and 64 rows = 4" in garter st with MC.

Family Photo 2010

Alyssa 11, Taylor 15, Alex 17, Page 13

Bob and Shelley

Look for my knitting patterns in Interweave Knits Gifts November 2010 and Interweave Knits Magazine Spring 2011!

Chemo Cap Fundraiser

I'm so proud of my daughter, Taylor, for her charity work.  Since January of this year, Taylor has donated 713 hats to chemo patients and others in need.  Click here to check out her blog: Tête-à-Tête Hats Ronda's Closet, a local boutique, will be holding a fundraiser for Taylor's charity, Tête-à-Tête Hats, on September 22 from 3:00 to 7:00.  Click here to check out the recent article about Taylor: Taylor's Article

If you're interested in knitting or helping in some way, please feel free to email her at tete.a.tete.hats@gmail.com.  There is never a charge for hats, so if you know if someone who needs one, just email Taylor to work out the details.

Back to School

Well, it's that time again.  The lazy days of summer are gone.  Back to the early mornings, massive doses of homework, soccer practices, and cooler weather.  The good news is that it's going to be easier to keep up a regular yoga schedule.  In theory, anyway.

I'm working religiously on my current project for Interweave Knits.  I'm so excited that my design for Interweave Knits Gifts should be out soon.  It's a November publication, but that means that it will show up in the bookstores earlier than that, right?  I can wait to see what they did with the photos.  It's an incredibly fun project to knit and I can't wait to hear what other knitters think of it.  It's my first published pattern.

Taylor (my 15-year-old daughter) and I are working on hats for a group of 46 moms that are shaving their heads in LA on September 7th.  The moms are raising awareness and money for childhood cancer research.  This is National Childhood Cancer Awareness month.  If you're interested in checking out Taylor's chemo cap donation site, go to http://tete-a-tete-hats.blogspot.com/.  Her site also lists the 46 Mamas Shave for the Brave information.  We are very excited that Ronda's Closet, an amazing boutique in our area, is going to be holding a fundraiser for Tête-á-Tête Hats in late September.  More info coming soon regarding the date/time in case you would like to attend.

Cancun Wedding Flowers

Sangria roses for Dan and Dahiana's wedding ;-)

Flower Designs

I'm working on some fabric flower designs. Once I fine-tune them, I'll post the instructions. This is a rose made up of individual petals with Swarovski crystals and sterling silver beads.

Bridesmaids

The girls are going to be in their dad's wedding on August 20th.

Here are Taylor and Paige in their dresses!

Yummy!

Yay! My scrumptious Shibui yarn finally arrived! I used this yarn for my upcoming Interweave project (watch for me in Interweave Knits Gifts this November!) and I fell in love with it. The Baby Alpaca DK is super soft and has a lovely drape. The only problem is that it makes Snowflake, my cat, insane. It's like catnip to him. I literally have to carry my knitting around with me and protect it with my life or next thing I know he is rolling around in it, cross-eyed, shredding it with his hind legs. The Silk Cloud is sort of like Rowan's Kidsilk Haze, but slightly less fuzzy and much softer. This color is Wasabi. Isn't it great?

Evil Alpaca Eater

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to my wonderful 11-year-old daughter, Alyssa!

Shoe Soling Instructions

If you knit my ballet flat pattern and would like to add leather soles, here are the directions.

One note about safety: The sewing awl is extremely sharp. It's very important NOT to get your hands or fingers near the sharp end as you are pushing it through the leather. I learned this one the hard way! If you are concerned about hurting yourself, then take the shoes to your local cobbler. I'm sure he or she would love to add the soles for you and has all of the notions readily available.

If soling the shoes sounds like a fun project, then go for it!

Just BE CAREFUL! :-)

Notions Required

•Sewing awl with spool of thread attached

•Awl (smallest size at hardware store) and hammer (or leather punch tool)

•Piece of leather of sufficient size for your shoe soles, or equivalent in two smaller pieces (one piece for each shoe)

•One pair of insoles

•Sharp scissors for cutting leather

•Pen

•one-half inch elastic

•All purpose glue (such as Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue)

•Wooden or plastic clothespins

(Sewing awl tool (with spool attached, thread included, and sewing instructions), leather, and leather punch tool are available at your local craft store. Leather scraps are a suitable material for the shoe soles, and are very reasonably priced. Insoles are available at your local drugstore.)

Creating and Attaching

the Leather Sole:

As a first step, I recommend reading through the whole soling (yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s a word) process.

Once you’re ready to begin, it’s important to figure out the proper size for your inner and outer soles. To do this, follow the directions for trimming the insoles to your size shoe. I usually trim the toe of the insole and outer sole with a more square shape than the guideline printed on the insoles. The guideline is usually too pointy for my taste. Once insoles have been trimmed, use them as a rough pattern to create your leather outer sole.

Place the insoles right side up on the wrong side of the leather. With a ballpoint pen, draw around the insole edge, creating a guideline on the leather. Draw a new line that is one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch outside of the original line that you just created by tracing the insole. This will create the perfect fit for the outer sole. If you prefer to adjust the shape of the inner or outer soles, now is the time to do it. Cut out leather soles with sharp scissors.

Now the outer leather soles are trimmed to the exact shape that you will need. On the wrong side of the leather, draw a line one-eighth of an inch from outer edge of sole. Use the leather punch or awl and hammer to make holes approximately every one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch for sewing soles to knitted fabric.

Try on the knitted section of the shoe to determine exactly where to glue the sole. Cover the sole with a thin coat of glue and step on sole to position. Adjust as necessary. Secure edges with clothespins and allow to dry overnight.

Once glue has completely dried, follow the directions on the sewing awl package to sew leather securely to knitted fabric.

Shoe can be worn with or without insole according to your preference.

Keep in mind that your choice of insoles will affect the fit of the flat. Memory foam insoles are extremely comfortable and widely available, however they take up more room on the inside of the shoe. If you choose thick insoles, then please plan to accommodate them when choosing your knit shoe size. If you are on the borderline between a size 7 and 8, you should probably size up. The insoles that you choose will also affect the shape of your outer sole because the insoles will be used as a rough pattern for the outer sole.

Interweave Soling Instructions

Stay tuned for soling instructions for my Interweave submission...

The Family :-)

Alex, Taylor, Paige, Bob, Shelley, and Alyssa

Spring has sprung early at my house!

Today I sat in my front yard and watched a mama bird feed her babies. These particular babies are LOUD and the mom is super busy catching huge mosquitos and other tasty treats. Yesterday, I made the mistake of trying to peek inside the house to see the babies. As soon as I approached the house, something hit me in the right ear. Mama bird. I don't think I'll challenge her authority again anytime soon.

You may notice that our birdhouse needs a new roof. I just can't bring myself to disturb it to do the repair work. This particular house has been quite popular with the neighborhood birds and they seem to like it as is.

A few more photos of Taylor's room in progress...

Granny Square Mania

It seems I have OCGSD (Obsessive Compulsive Granny Square Disorder). I'm not typically a "crocheter," however my friend taught me how to make these little gems and I can't seem to stop. I'm shooting for a king sized throw. It should take about 400 squares by my calculation. It's a pretty big undertaking if I do say so myself.

Regardless, I'm off and running...

Alyssa's "Dude Bags"

My daughter Alyssa is making the cutest purses. She calls them "dude bags," because they are "dudes" (creatures) and bags (purses).

Here are a couple of them. They make me smile!

SweaterBabe Talia Vest

My version of this vest (as pictured below on my lovely daughter, Taylor) can be seen on the sweaterbabe website...

Check out my version of the Talia Vest at:

http://blog.sweaterbabe.com/knitting/

Shelley's Talia Vest

Here's a very "spring-worthy" #82 Talia Shaped Vest from Shelley G. of San Diego, CA. She used Blue Sky Alpacas 100% Cotton Yarn in Pickle 633.

This is what Shelley had to say about this project:
"This pattern was fun to knit and I love the fit of this vest. Very flattering! I was a pretty new knitter when I knit this pattern several years ago, so it's not perfect! I still like it, though, and I think that it still retains your design for the most part. :-) "

Thanks for sharing photos, Shelley. It looks great on your daughter and on the mannequin. Looks like you omitted the edging around the armholes and neckline to give it more of an "organic" feel.

Beautiful green!

Taylor's Room Before and After

I'm off and running with Taylor's room re-do. She decided that her room was too "babyish" for a 15-year-old, so we're going with the Anthropologie look. The previously lavender walls are now red and her white furniture has been painted and decoupaged. Here are some before and after photos. More to follow as we get closer to being done!

*Dresser Before*

White Bombay Kids

*Dresser After*

Vintage Wallpaper

*Desk Before*

Vintage White

*Desk After*

Vintage Maps

*Bedside Table After*

Vintage Postcards

Lo and behold...

I was actually able to figure out the yarn substitution for my previous post "Talia Vest." For those of you who are interested, here you go...

Blue Sky Alpacas 100% Cotton Knitting Yarn in color 633 Pickle

Silken Scabbard

Here's my version of Stitch Diva's Silken Scabbard design. It came out great, however, I decided that I didn't need to do the tubular bind off---WRONG! A regular bind off just doesn't work here. It doesn't stretch enough because this is a very fitted sweater. As a result, I need to rip out the bottom and re-do the bind off. I have been procrastinating this one for quite a while. For some strange reason, finishing the bind off and weaving in the ends makes it almost impossible for me to pick up the project again. This is true even if the end result is not wearable. Why is that? Do you have that problem too? Maybe posting it will give me the nudge that I need to actually fix the problem.
By the way, the really cool thing about this pattern (and the reason that I decided to knit it) is that the shaping is done with the cables. When the pattern needs to decrease at the waist, it's the cable that decreases. Also, this is the first time that I have actually knit horseshoe cables.

Tête-à-Tête

Check out the project that I'm working on with my daughter, Taylor!

http://www.tete-a-tete-hats.blogspot.com