Category: Updates

Designing, Updates, WiP Posts

How are things?

Heather

Wow, things sure have changed since my last post in early March! How is everyone doing?

Pretty much all of my 2020 events have been cancelled, which is understandable, but still disappointing. A pretty big percentage of my yearly income is from teaching, so that’s hurt a bit. On the other hand, I’ve had more time to tech edit, and I’ve gained several new clients – which is exciting, and certainly helps to offset some of my lost income from teaching. (If you’re looking for a Tech Editor, I have openings!) 🙂

I’ve still been designing – here’s a sneak peek at a lace shawl that will be in the upcoming issue of Cast On magazine:

This is worked with Greenwood Fiberworks Yakity Yak yarn in the color Cherry Semisolid. I loved working with this yarn! Look for the new issue later in July.

I’m working on revamping my pattern layout and design, and I’m going to try to produce something that is much more accessible for knitters that use page readers and the like. I have a few designs ready or almost ready to release, but they will likely be delayed a short bit while I learn new software and work on revamping the design. But in the end I hope to have something much more useful to more people! I’m always open to suggestions if there is something you think I should be considering.

My patterns are currently for sale mostly on Ravelry, and I know lots of people are having trouble using the new site. Many of my patterns are also for sale on LoveKnitting, so that is an alternative for those of you that understandably want to avoid Ravelry. I’m also looking into alternatives for selling my patterns via other means, so changes may be afoot in my website as well. (I have lots of research going on right now!!)

I’ve also got some new tutorial videos in the works, so keep an eye out for those!

I’ve been doing a little “fun” knitting during Zoom knit groups and the like – here’s a pair of socks that are half done. My favorite method – top down with afterthought heels. I’m not sure what color I’ll do the heels in yet. I have plenty of sock yarn to pick from in my stash for those, though!

I’m available for private or small group knitting lessons via Zoom, so do get in touch if that’s something you’re interested in! You can also buy me a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/hstorta! I appreciate your support immensely.

Until next time, Happy Knitting!!

Patterns Released, Teaching, Updates

How is it March already?

Heather

Ok, so – I’ve been a bad blogger. lol. I can’t believe I never posted a SAFF recap, or at all since Rhinebeck. Oops. Forgive me?

I’ll bring you up to speed on all that has been happening in Heather-ville:

  • SAFF last October was great – I taught 9 classes over 4 days, so it was non-stop teaching. I had very little time to roam the vendor hall. But I had fantastic students (as always) and had a fun (but exhausting) time!
  • In November my family and I went to Walt Disney World, and got to see the new Star Wars Land. That was fun (of course!) Later in the month, we hosted our first guests at our new home for Thanksgiving, and had a very nice visit with family.
  • In January I was supposed to teach an all-day workshop for our Guild, but I caught the flu and had to cancel. (Boo.) My whole family ended up with the flu, and that was no fun, but at least we were all staggered in when we had it – so there was someone to take care of the sick ones! (Thank goodness for older children and their ability to take care of themselves and others to an extent! If this had hit while the boys were little, it would have been a disaster!)
  • I released my Rhinebeck sweater-vest pattern, finally: October Dreams is now available on Ravelry.
  • In February I was appointed to the Board of Directors of TKGA, as their new VP of Education. I’m very excited about this – I believe very strongly in TKGA’s mission and am honored to be able to be a part of moving the organization forward.

That’s a quick update! Now, what’s in store in the future? 2020 is looking to be a very busy year for me!

I will be teaching a class this Sunday as part of Knitrino’s Virtual Knitting Extravaganza – check it out on Instagram if you haven’t heard about what they’ve whipped up in response to the postponement of Vogue Knitting Live Seattle.

Registration is open for the first TKGA Retreat this November in Portland, OR. I will be one of the two instructors at this year’s retreat (the first since the reorganization of TKGA as a non-profit.) It promises to be a fabulous event, and I am super excited about it! There are only a few spots left, from what I hear, so if you’re interested you should register ASAP.

Dallas Fort Worth Fiber Fest is fast approaching! I will be part of the team teaching on TKGA’s Master’s Day. And I will be there all weekend staffing the “Brilliance Bar” and roaming the vendor hall. Say hi if you see me!!

Later in April I’ll be participating in Unwind Retreat in Blowing Rock, NC. I love the people at this retreat so much that even though I am not teaching this year, I had to sign up to go. It’s such a fantastic retreat.

In June, I will be teaching a couple classes at the Blue Ridge Fiber Fest in Sparta, NC. ‘Short Rows’ on Saturday morning and ‘Entrelac Baskets’ on Saturday afternoon. Registration is open now, so go sign up for classes before they fill up!

I have some other things on the horizon later in 2020, you’ll have to stay tuned to find out about those. 😉

On my needles currently are some pillows to go along with the article I am writing for the upcoming issue of Cast On magazine. And I have some designs in my head that will need to get on the needles as soon as these pillows are done!

Whew! Ok, that’s my update. Now to try to do better at regularly blogging!

Until next time (hopefully sooner than 5 months from now, lol), Happy Knitting!!

 

 

Designing, Teaching, Updates

Checking In!

Heather

Hello all!

So sorry it’s been so long – a lot has happened, and I’ve been super busy! But I’ve reached a bit of a breather in my schedule (albeit not a very long one) so I figured I should post to catch you up!

If you remember, I told you all about our house selling and buying in my last post. Well, we bought our new house at the beginning of August, and sold our old house a couple of days later, and basically it has been chaos ever since! It’s only just now settling down – although I still have boxes upon boxes in my bedroom, but the kitchen is unpacked, and the living room is being decorated, so at least we can “live” in the house a bit. (And we are loving it!)

And at the same time I had more deadline knitting for Cast On (look for the Stitch Anatomy article and two patterns from me, plus the ‘On Your Way to the Masters’ article in the upcoming issue) – and I have stacks of Master Knitting submissions to review as well (I apologize profusely for the delay in reviewing your work if I am your Co-Chair!) Basically, it’s been a whirlwind couple of months.

So, on to what’s happening now!

Rhinebeck is in just a couple short weeks!! All four of my classes are sold out – how crazy is that!!?? I’m beyond excited. If you are signed up for one of my classes, look for an email from me later today! I’m looking forward to meeting new folks, and experiencing my first Rhinebeck, too.

SAFF registration is still going strong! There is still space in all of my classes as of the last update I received, but a few of my classes are filling up fast, so don’t wait if there’s a particular class you had your eye on! I’m teaching 9 classes in all: the workshops are all listed here.

Also, registration for Kanuga is open now! I’ll be teaching cables — with my Harmonious Echo sweater as the project, or a cowl instead if you don’t want to knit the whole sweater. Come join us at this wonderful retreat!

Now that my deadline knitting has died down for the time being, I have picked back up my Rhinebeck sweater vest! I just bound off the back neck a day or two ago, and am almost done with the body. Next it will be time to cut the steeks (I’ll try to film a video when I do – watch Instagram and/or Youtube for that) and do the neckline and armholes. Fingers crossed I actually have it done in time to wear at Rhinebeck! (I have a swing skirt and a 40s style blouse to wear with it already!)

I’m writing the pattern up and have it almost complete as well, I just have to figure out the charts for the neckline/armhole – it’s a bit tricky with like 10+ sizes and all different decrease rates. I’ll be getting it tech edited and then put out a call for test knitters – but most likely not until after Rhinebeck and SAFF are over!

Oh! And I’ve filmed a few videos that have been posted on YouTube – they go along with my articles that will be published in the upcoming Cast On, but you can view them now. One each on the Chinese Waitress CO and BO, and a couple videos of my tips for entrelac knitting – one on picking up stitches and one on color peek. I hope they are helpful!

So, whew! That was a long update! I’ll post periodically from Rhinebeck on Instagram (be sure to follow me there!) and I will be sure to post a recap here when I’m back!

Until next time, Happy Knitting!!

 

Updates, WiP Posts

Happy New Year!

Heather

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and I want to wish you all a happy, healthy, wonderful 2019!

My 2018 was pretty good, so I’m hopeful that my 2019 will be even better!

In 2018 I published 11 new patterns – 7 in publications and 4 as self published. As well as converting another 6 patterns into self published designs from previously published. Not too bad! I also taught at Masters Day in Dallas, at Unwind Getaway, and 15 different classes at my ‘home’ LYS, Cheers to Ewe!

I finally joined TNNA, I became a certified Knitting Instructor, I was appointed as a Co-Chair on the Master Hand Knitting Committee, and I became the editor of the K2TOG newsletter. When I spell it all out like that it makes me realize how much I actually accomplished this year!

2019 looks to be just as exciting! I’m teaching at Kanuga in a couple of weeks, and then I’ll be teaching at the Dallas Fort Worth Fiber Festival in April – not only on Masters Day but two other classes as well. This will be my first ‘non-regional’ teaching gig (aside from teaching at Masters Day there last year), and I’m pretty excited about it! I’ll be at Unwind Getaway again (mostly as a participant this time – but I will be doing a little bit of teaching.) And I have class proposals in to several other events throughout the year. (Fingers crossed!) I’m thinking of tackling the TKGA Knitting Judge certification this year, and I want to grow the Tech Editing side of my business as well, in addition to more designing too (of course.)

On the knitting front, I just wrapped up my two pillow designs that will be in the next issue of Cast On magazine – along with the article to go with them. I really need to not commit to designing over the holiday break – I really stressed out this year – there was so much going on! (Which is 90% of why I haven’t posted since Thanksgiving!) But I’ve finished everything ahead of my deadline, so I call that a win! 🙂

I’ve finished one sock and have started the second – these are my plain ‘waiting room’ knitting. Cuff down, short row heel.

I really need to go through my WiP pile and dig some stuff out to finish. My Vitamin D cardi is still sitting near my desk asking to be finished, so I think I may dig that back out and finally finish it soon!

I’m not going to really do any ‘resolutions’ this year, but I did pick a word for my year – this year it is ‘mindful’. I’d like to be more mindful of how I spend my time, and how I spend my money, and what I spend my precious knitting time on. And also work on being mindful of living in the moment. Do you have any resolutions for 2019, or do you also pick a word of the year to focus on? I’d love to know what knitting resolutions you have – drop me a comment with them below!

Until next time – Happy Knitting! Here’s to a wonderful, knitting-filled 2019!

Updates

Sorry for the radio silence!

Heather

I’m still here, I promise!  Life has been busy, but I’m still knitting away.  Right now I’m working on a gift knit, so I can’t show you that until it’s done and gifted.  And as soon as that’s done I have another magazine design – so I won’t be able to show you that either!  I have lots of ‘secret’ stuff I’m working on.  Sorry – I know that makes things less than interesting here!

We just got back from a trip to Walt Disney World – we stayed for 10 days – that’s the longest we’ve ever stayed!  It was so much fun, but very tiring.

Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom

And I got very little knitting done while we were gone!!

Back on a fiber related note – I’m teaching a Fiber Arts class for my homeschooling group – I’m planning on covering spinning, weaving, crochet and knitting.  I already had the first class, and the kids really seemed to enjoy learning how to spin on a drop spindle!  I’m looking forward to the rest of the classes. 🙂  The moms keep asking me for a class for them, so I need to try to set one up. 🙂

Anyway, not much else going on here!  I’m enjoying reviewing Master Knitting notebooks – (got one right after we got back from Disney!) – and I’m learning a lot while doing so!  I’ll get my first level 2 notebook to review this week – I’m really excited about that!

I’ll try to do a bit better about posting, but it’s hard when there really isn’t anything to show you! 😉

Until next time, Happy Knitting!