My first publication!!!

I am so proud. I am officially published in the Loom Knitter's Circle magazine!
My pattern is 'Leaves a Mark', which you can find a link to under the picture of my best friend's earrings on the home page!!! Great job, Jenny! And my tutorial for how to do the KFB increase on the looms is under the 'articles' tab! Let's all do a happy dance for me!!!!
And while you're there, check out the awesome earrings pattern by Jenny and the cute bangle bracelets by Isela and the awesome hats by Brenda. Oh, and another bookmark in there that is by Stacie Walsh. That cute little 'candy corn' bag by Isela.....GEEZ, the whole section of patterns is just cute and a MUST SEE!
Why are you still reading this? Go check it out!!!!!!!!!!!

The Kiss Loom Birthday Party

Last night, I had sooooo much fun. I think about 20 0f us loomers had sooooo much fun! :D
We attended the Kiss Loom's First Birthday! It was like a very energetic chat room filled with door prizes and drawings, presentations, a game, and a party favor!
Anne Bipes had the first presentation in which she discussed gauge. Now, here I am...a dummy...telling myself that I needed to make guage swatches so that I could change the number of rows and stitches I needed for this or that pattern (example: me and the Simple Pink Sweater in which I omitted 20 rows from the body and added rows to the sleeves so that it would fit me more like I wanted. :D). But Anne pointed out that with our Kiss Looms, we could do a guage swatch then simply adjust the setting and washers to achieve a more desirable guage. DUH!!!! I mean, I should have thought of that already. I had thought about it for hats, like doing an adult's on one setting with so many washers, then reducing the setting and/or washers to fit a child's head. Granted, I still would have shortened the Simple Pink Sweater's body and lengthened the sleeves. But, why hadn't I thought about changing the setting and washers? LOL!
Then I was next to present with a lesson on lace. I had made a pattern for a fashion scarf that I named 'Robin and Lace' (like ribbons and lace, get it? LOL!) I used the Moonlight Mohair that Pam sent me for Teacher's Appreciation Day to make this really long scarf. I explained how to do the ssk and k2tog that is used in the pattern in this new tutorial (NOTE: This is a different method than the previous tutorial I had made. This is more based on needle knitting methods of ssk and k2tog). The pattern creates a sort of 'v' shape in the center of the lace where the ssk's and k2tog's slant toward eachother and I really liked it. It also shows the different ends and how it looks when you start a pattern with a lace design and then finish it with the same design. It turns out looking different. I got a sort of 'fish tail' at the end of the scarf, but more of a rounded edge at the beginning. :D Now, to create a hat to go with it. Bwahaha!
The next presentation was by my tia, Maria! She had this awesome 3 in 1 pattern. It is a cowl, but with a few alterations it can become a handbag or laptop cover! It is really gorgeous if you ask me and I can't wait to make my first cowl using this pattern. Of course, it would look just AWESOME in different shades of PINK! And she mentioned that you don't have to wear the cowl on your head, it can be worn as a neckwarmer or shawl type thing. Neckwarmer...that is what I need in the winter months. I find myslef hunching my neck down into my sweaters to stay warm. How silly when I could have made one of these all along?! LOL!
Then Graciela worked on presenting Karol's Yarn Substitution Chart! I swear, if I had known exactly how to read that chart I would have used it many times by now. I am so happy that I now understand it and will be printing it out to keep in my binder from here on out! You can use it to figure out which yarns are likely substitutes for eachother. Let's say a pattern calls for a certain yarn, but you don't have it and your local yarn store doesn't carry it and your only option is to order it online and pay a ton in shipping....or order a LOT of yarn that you really don't need to add to your stash to get free shipping (LOL!). Karol's chart can help you find out if you already have some yarn, or your local yarn store has some, that can be used in it's place. It doesn't account for texture (or fuzziness) but it can help with weight substitution. :D Really pretty invaluable, if you ask me!
And my friend, Trudy, made her presentation on problems she ran into when starting out with the Kiss Looms and the differences between the Kiss and the KKs. Turns out, a lot of people had the same or similar problems that Trudy did in the beginning. And hopefully the presentation helped the very newcomers either fix mistakes they are making or prevent them all together.
Last but not least was a game of 'Pin the Peg on the Loom' in which players picked a number from 1 to 15 to match up to a picture that Graciela had taken in which she had marked off one peg on the loom. The person who picked that peg number won.
The prizes throughout the party were Graciela's videos and patterns along with Cliff giving away some sets of 2-15 peg boards and his new 'Little Guy' which is a 4-4 peg modular (16 pegs). And as a party favor for everyone that was able to attend, I sent out the pattern for the Jeannette Knitting Tote. :D
I had so much fun and was so wired that even though the party ended at 8pm, I was still awake at midnight! LOL! I can't wait for next year, now!

OH! And here are the McCoy Mitts that I made up as a back up plan in case we needed it at the party. I am proud of them and think they turned out sooooo nice! And Angel has already made one and posted her picture to the Kiss Loom Group!

Getting to know me, getting to know all about me!

Bethany is having a Blogiversary Party and it is game time!!!!

1. What was your age when you first discovered your love of yarn? What (or who) was it that introduced you to all that fibery goodness?
I was 25 (it was last September) and my friend, Shannon, who lived in North Carolina at the time, but has since gotten married and the army moved her husband to England so she had to follow, is the one that introduced me...but she had set out to start me on needles when I got sidetracked by those curious multi-colored looms in Hobby Lobby. :D
2. If you could sit down with anyone in the world to have a little knit along, who would it be?
Only my favorite loomy friends: Jenny, Karen, Bethany, Graciela, Trudy, and Dianne...and probably a few others as well!
3. What is your favorite comfy place or position in which to work with yarn? I mainly choose my rocking chair. I need to learn to sew so I can make some comfier cushions, but it is a 'safe' place b/c there is no room for little kids to squeeze in with me and mess up my projects. :D
4. Like our heroin in the story below, do you ever dream about soft fuzzy goodness? Or how to do a particular technique you’d never thought of while awake? All....the....time!
5. What type of loomer/knitter/crocheter are you? Do you like long involved projects, or quickies full of fast satisfaction? I like quick projects. I find myself getting frustrated if I am taking too long to do a project. To me, I had no excuse to take 2 weeks to make a sweater!
6. Have you ever guiltily postponed dinner due to your involvement with a project? Um....too often.
7. What is your ultimate goal in your yarn life? I want to be famous.
8. Do you have a favorite snack you like to munch while working with yarn? Anything that only requires one hand a I can do little nibbling.
9. What is your all time most favorite yarn tool/accessory that you absolutely could not live without? The little plastic case that I use to hold my scissors, crochet hooks, yarn needles, measuring tape, stitch markers, pins, cable needles and stitch holders...OH, and my pick tool!
10. What is your favorite movie? Moulin Rouge
11. What is your favorite book as an adult…and what was yours as a child? It is and always will be 'The Little White Horse'
12. What are you working on right now with your yarn? A lace scarf that I am designing on the Kiss, a knitted tote that is on the Kiss, a sock on my DA sock loom, another lace scarf on needles.
13. Is there a special project that you’ve been just dying for someone (or yourself) to design? I have a design in my head for a tank top with an intricate cabled design in the center of the chest that will hopefully pull it in and give it some nice shaping around the girls. :D
14. Did someone invite you to join in on the party today? You did! I am sure I was first on your guest list!!!

Make sure that all of you go join Bethany's Blogiversary Party that is taking place RIGHT NOW! GO! NOW! Or you will miss it!!!!!

Finished something new

I actually finished this, I think two weeks ago, but forgot to post it. Whoops! I was very proud of the blanket stitch work that I did when stitching in the purse liner. I did a happy dance because of that. :D


It is for my sister for her 22nd b-day on Aug. 10th. :D I used Bethany's pattern and you can find it HERE. It is very easy and fairly quick if you have the time to sit down and focus on it, unlike me who was trying to do three or four different things at one time. LOL! I have been bouncing from knitting needles to crochet hooks to looms and then back again for about a week or so. I have a lacy keyhole scarf on my needles, just finished up with three travel/neck pillows that I crocheted, and am currently working on my first ever sock on my DALooms EFG Sock Loom while the knitting tote I am designing is on my Kiss Loom. Does that sound CADD (Crafty Attention Deficit Disorder) to you? Hahaha!
Ya'll don't forget that the Simple Sweater class on the Kiss Loom starts tomorrow in the Loom Class and lasts for three weeks. Here is the one that I made from the pattern at the beginning of May. :D
It was literally a simple sweater. The only challenging thing was that I was making alterations to the arm length and shortened the body of it. I didn't do too hot with picking up the stitches around the collar, but that is OK. It is still my favorite comfy sweater! :D Hope that everyone taking that class has fun and gains confidence in themselves. :)

I think this is like..the second MEME I have done on here.

I was cruisin' my friend's blog and she had a MEME up. Figured I would be a good sport and continue it for her. :D

1. Where was I 10 years go. Well, I was 16 and in the 11th grade. Let's see...I was in the concert band and played the flute, in the marching band I was in the color guard, made it into the 'Who's Who Among American High School Students book for the first time (senior year I was in it again. :D), was making nearly straight A's. Um....worked at the Harrisburg Baptist Church Daycare during school breaks and vacations. That's about it, I think. :P

2. 5 things on today’s to-do list
Well, since it is Saturday and that is family fun day, there isn't many chores.
-dishes
-kids and I will play with Play-Doh
-Do up a tutorial for the KFB and a little pattern to go with it
-Finish up the little butterfly for the front of the 'little zippered purse' then hide it b/c that is going to be a Christmas gift for my Lady Tru
....I think that is it!

3.Snacks I enjoy
-Dove chocolates
-(during summer) vanilla ice cream bars coated in chocolate
-green tea and Ritz crackers
-bananas

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire.
Knock down this house, build a gorgeous home that I can be proud of, hire someone to come in and clear the land really good (almost 10 acres of...well, jungle! LOL!), start an alpaca, sheep, or some wool-relating animal farm, pave our driveway so there will be no more gully washers causing half of the neighbor's driveway to wash away (we share a drive and the first half is theirs, and on a hill. If it rains hard, then it basically erodes the driveway away so badly that you feel like you are trying to drive your car straddling the Grand Canyon!), take the kids around the United States to parks and recreational stuff (Mammoth Cave, Ruby Falls, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone Park, etc), move my parents back to Mississippi.....OH! And organize a huge 'looming convention' and arrange transportation and accomodations for all who would like to be part of it! :D

5. Places I have lived.
Texas, Mississippi, Indiana, and...Mississippi!

6. Jobs I have had.
Daycare provider, worked at an ice cream shoppe, became shift manager at the ice cream shoppe, assistant manager at an arcade, assistant manager at Claire's, manager of Claire's, SAHM (yes, it truly is the hardest one!), loom pattern designer/tutorial creator (this is the most rewarding one...besides the 'mom' part. That is pretty rewarding in itself.)

7. Who would I like to know more about.
I am an ever-curious person, so I like to know about anything and everything and anybody. :D

If you read this consider yourself tagged or not. Just let me know in a comment if you decide to do it.

All work and no play...lead to a very boring Robin

I have been so boring lately. LOL! So busy designing and writing up tutorials and such that I haven't really done any leisure stuff! *gasp*

First, we'll show the 'Cabled Column Calamity' block that will be starting in Loom Class on Sunday. It looks hard, but HEY! You have my nearly undivided attention to help you along! What more can you ask for folks?! :D

Then I have been working on a collection of patterns that I have named the 'Jeannette Collection'. Why the 'Jeannette Collection', you ask? Well, if we flash back to my absolutely AWESOME, OFF THE HOOK, DA BOMB birthday, you'll remember that Jeannette sent me some Lion Wool to make myself a felted baguette b/c I was all pouty for sending the one I had currently made, to my mom (WHO ISN'T USING IT! What is wrong with that woman?! :P) Well, she should have known that I was going to totally make it all my own. And an entire collection at that! I still am working on the felted knitting tote, but I have the felted purse and wallet finished. :D I will post a pic later of the liner I have put in the purse. It is purty liner material. LOL! Oh, and these are all done on the Kiss Loom. I made that decision on purpose for the fact that there are so few patterns out there for the Kiss Looms...I needed to create some!

Ok, so in the past month or so I have cranked out several tutorials. (click the title to go to the link for the download of the tutorials)
'Cables on the Kiss Loom'
'Cables on the Knifty Knitter Loom'
'YO, SSK and K2TOG, YO' for both looms
'Bobbles on the Kiss Loom'
and the list is growing and growing for more. If you have a request for a tutorial you need, give me a hollah and I will add it to the list! :D

My good friend, Cliff (the creator/maker of the Kiss Looms) asked me if I would mind making an updated set of assembly instructions since he added hex nuts that can be used in place of wing nuts. OF COURSE! I would have beat myself up forever if I had said no! I mean, I LOVE these looms! I have to force myself to get the specified loom out for a pattern I am following so that I will actually use the other looms. LOL! And, I was tired of fighting myself about putting up my Kiss Loom pieces into the storage box in the family room where I keep all of my other 'not in use' looms. I decided to clean out an entire drawer in my yarn storage 'center' to put all my Kiss mod pieces.
I just had to pay Cliff back in some small way for this wonderful creation! He posted the instructions to the Kiss Loom Group this week, so if you need them, that is where they are. :D

Now, I am working on getting the last bits (meaning a pretty little butterfly) added to the 'Little Zippered Purse' that Anke is teaching in class this week (it ends tomorrow! And then my class starts.) I will try to post my pics of it tomorrow after I post the pics to the Loom Class. :D

Well, it has been a very long day. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Independence Day full of whatever ya'll do on the 4th of July (for me and my family...we go to the river/beach and cookout and chill with eachother all day long. :D Can't think of a better way to do it!)

OH! And before I forget....I really MUST brag about myself since I am so very proud. I will be submitting a tutorial to the Loom Knitter's Circle online magazine for the fall edition. Oooooo, another tutorial? Why is this one under wraps? Well, ladies and gents...b/c I believe I have stumbled upon something that I haven't seen anywhere else on the blogs and tutorials and videos I have watched. It is the looming method of doing the needle knitting increase that is commonly called the KFB or 'knit into the front and back loop'! Keep your eyes open for me in the fall issue with the tutorial and a simple pattern!

Life is short

Right now, I am telling myself to be strong and quit mulling over the shoulda, coulda, wouldas.
I just found out today, that I lost a friend. She lost her battle with CF (Cystic Fybrosis) and God took her in his arms and carried her home last Thursday when the doctor's took her off of the ventilator.
Why am I so late in finding out? Well, I guess I just wasn't being a very good friend. That's all I can say.
I will miss you, Heather. I know that you no longer have to fight, just to take a breath. I know that you no longer will live in fear of your life b/c you caught a cold. I know that you are happy....
And I know that you don't want me to beat myself up. That you would tell me to hug my kids and live life to the fullest for you. :*) And I promise you that I will.