Because where there are cute tiny baby boy shoes..

There must be teeny, handknit, bright green socks to go with them.

These are knit from a Pigeonroof Studios sock yarn that I received at Stitches West this year. 

The pattern was a heavily adapted basic sock pattern for babies. There are many free patterns like this available on Ravelry. What a perfect solution for small leftovers of sock yarn!

All that I am missing now are some baby feet...

In two weeks from today (or really any time in between) we will be welcoming a new baby boy into our family. There is nothing like self publishing a book to make 40 weeks of pregnancy fly by!

Right now I am going through that crazy pregnant lady "nesting" phase where I feel absolutely panicked about getting all loose ends tied up and everything set and ready for the baby.

I happen to have these two gorgeous gray cabled knits on the needles at the moment.. and although its completely illogical, I feel the desperate need to get both done before the baby's arrival. 

Because... those things make total sense when you are a crazy pregnant lady... ok? 

Ok.

This is the Gramps Cardigan pattern in progress.. being knit out of Madelinetosh DK. I seriously think that this is the cutest baby sweater ever. I know I've said that before.. but seriously.. It's the NEW cutest one ever. 

I can't wait to finish it!

And also vying for my attention is an extremely snuggly cozy Rocky Coast Cardigan for me, knit in the amazing Fiber Company Terra yarn. What a joy this is to knit, and I imagine it would be a comforting thing to wear in the cold wintry postpartum period up ahead.

I better get to work! I only have two weeks left! Will I make it??

In the meantime, I'll continue sharing the pictures of my already completed baby knits with you.. look for more over the next few weeks!

This past week or so.. I've been literally surrounded by stacks...

and stacks... 

and stacks....

And some more stacks...

....which would have been so completely daunting and overwhelming if it wasn't for the help of our wonderful family and friends who tirelessly helped us get all of these copies of Coastal Knits packaged and out in the mail to all of you! 

Thanks to all of their help, we were able to get completely up to date with orders as of the end of last week. As a big, tired, very pregnant lady.. I am so grateful to each and every one of them!

Whoever might think that mailing out piles of books around the world is easy... well.. its no small feat let me tell you! Never did I imagine how many books would have to be shipped out thus far. I am amazed.. truly.

Thanks to your unbelievable support of Coastal Knits, I am happy to announce that less than two weeks after the book shipment was delivered, we are already into our second print run! 

Can you believe it? I can't. 

Thank you everyone!

Thank you again to everyone who pre-ordered Coastal Knits! 

Your enthusiasm for our project has been overwhelming!

We randomly picked among the list of names that pre-ordered and Hannah and I are happy to congratulate Kathleen Moul on winning this amazing basket of yarn!

We hope that you enjoy your new book and sampling the yarns that were used in our Coastal Knits projects!

Episode 60

Shownotes:

Thank you so much for listening to this special season finale episode of Never Not Knitting. 

As you may have already heard, this will be my final episode for awhile while I plan for and enjoy the newest member of our family due in a few weeks. I hope to come back to the podcast in the future.

Thank you to everyone reading for the amazing support you have given me over the years. 

You have been so encouraging and wonderful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am very happy to have kicked off the Coastal Knits Blog Tour with this episode!

Please follow along with our friends as the book is reviewed, interviews are conducted, and many of those involved in Coastal Knits chronicle their experiences in helping to create this book!

Saturday, October 15 – Never Not Knitting Podcast hosted by Alana and Hannah

Monday, October 17 – Kate Oates of Tot Toppers

Tuesday, October 18 – Knitmore Girls, podcast review

Wednesday, October 19 – Mary Joy Gumayagay, our wonderful graphic designer

Friday, October 21 – Romi Hill of Designs by Romi

Monday, October 24 – Andrea Sanchez, adventures of a sample knitter

Wednesday, October 26 – Kelbourne Woolens, distributors of The Fibre Company

Friday, October 28 – Allegra Wermuth, of Petite Purls

Monday, October 31 – Susan B. Anderson

Wednesday, November 2 – Carrie Bostick Hoge, of Maddermade and Quince & Co.

Friday, November 4 – Wendy Bernard of Knit and Tonic

Monday, November 7 – Nicole Dupuis, sample knitter chronicle

Wednesday, November 9 – Ariane Caron – Lacoste of Falling Stitches

Friday, November 11 – Deirdre Kennedy, adventures of a sample knitter

Monday, November 14 - Shannon Cook of Luvin the mommyhood

Wednesday, November 16 – Anne Hanson of Knitspot

Friday, November 18 – Julie Crawford of Knitted Bliss

Monday, November 21 – Margaux Hufnagel of tentenknits

Monday, November 28 – Kirsten Kapur of Through the Loops

Wednesday, November 30 – Jaala Spiro of Knit Circus

Friday, December 2 – Cecily Glowick MacDonald of Winged Knits

Monday, December 5 – Veronika Jobe of Yarn on the House

To learn more about Coastal Knits or to place an order, please visit our website at coastalknits.com

Guess what arrived today?

Our west coast shipment of Coastal Knits books!

Lots and lots of them!

It was so fun getting to open that first box and finally see the finished product! Super exciting!

There are a lot of books here and we will be working around the clock getting your packages ready!

We are going to be starting shipping on October 15th, so you have until midnight PST on October 14th to place your pre-order and qualify to download the special pre-order package.

Remember that everyone who orders before the 15th is entered into our special Coastal Knits Pre-Order Giveaway! The winner will be announced here and on Hannah's blog on October 15th.

Click HERE to pre-order while there is still time!

I can't wait to ship these out to you!

While we are waiting for Mr. Baby to arrive, some of these baby knits may be modeled 

by this very reluctant bear.

This is the Hooded Jacket pattern knit from the book Simply Baby by Debbie Bliss. I love this book and have knit many patterns from it over the years. This is the second time I have knit this little cardigan... It's a favorite of mine. It's simple, wearable, cute and practical. And since I chose to knit it in Spud and Chloe sweater yarn in the Firecracker colorway.. it's also washable!

I think we'll be getting a lot of use out of this little jacket this winter season.

Well.. after weeks of talking about baby knits on my podcast, I think it is HIGH TIME that I actually share them with you here on the blog!

As you know, I've been preparing for the arrival of our baby boy due in less than a month! 

I've knit several baby things but have been too busy to blog about them. 

SO.. over the next few weeks, prepare to see a lot of tiny baby, knitted, cuteness. 

There is a lot to catch up on!

First up.. Baby Sophisticate.

Maybe the fastest, cutest newborn sweater EVER? This is one awesome pattern that you can find for free on Ravelry HERE.

I knit the whole sweater and a matching hat in just a few days using only one skein of Malabrigo Worsted in the taupe colorway.

I used Kate Oates Adventure Hat pattern from her new book Math For Hats. It turned out great!

Perfect future baby shower present? I think so!

In Episode 59, you heard me talk all about the gorgeous Tactile Fiber Arts Wild Crafted yarn line. 

Well.. here it is! Pretty, right?

It's no wonder that I selected this yarn for use in my Rustling Leaves Beret pattern for Coastal Knits!

These gorgeous colorways were created using natural botanical elements gathered here in California such as plum leaves, fresh eucalyptus leaves, and horsetail.

Along with these 4 amazing skeins, you have the chance to win this signed 

copy of, Bambeanies, by Woolly Wormhead. 

(Woolly contributed an awesome personal knitting story to the last episode. Be sure to listen!)

To enter to win this fabulous prize, please leave a comment (including contact information) under this post. Only one comment per person please.

The winner will be announced here on October 15th, so please check back then to see if you have won!

Drawing Now Closed! Congratulations to Nuttygal, the winner!

Episode 59

Shownotes:

Tactile Fiber Arts

Rocky Coast Cardigan

The Fibre Company

Organik

Malabrigo

Worsted

Karabella 

Aurora 8

Rocky Coast Cardigan Knit-a-long

Hannah's Post About

Organik

The Fibre Company

Terra

The Gramps Cardigan

Puerperium Cardigan

The Fibre Company

Acadia

Becoming Art

Handspun

60 Quick Baby Knits

Baby Mitts

Bambeanies

Woolly Wormhead

Quynn 

Woolly on Ravelry

Coastal Knits

Rustling Leaves Beret

Rustling Leaves Beret Knit-a-long

Tactile Fiber Arts

Wild Crafted

About Natural Dyes

Question Forum For The Next Episode!

Join the Never Not Knitting Ravelry Group!

Follow ME on Twitter!

The winner of Episode 58's One Planet Yarn and Fiber Drawing Giveaway is "Fibercrafter"! Congratulations!

*Please check back soon to enter the Tactile Fiber Arts Drawing Giveaway for Episode 59!

Receive 15% off at the Tactile Fiber Arts online shop by entering code "coastalknits" in the checkout process. This offer is valid through November 15th at tactilefiberarts.com and is exclusive to the Never Not Knitting podcast listeners and blog readers.

As many of you know, we are going to be welcoming a 

new baby boy into our family in November...which I am so excited about!

A little over a week ago, I had my baby shower and received so many wonderful gifts from family and friends.

Among these presents, were some very special handmade things given to me by my two sisters-in-law.

These two girls are amazingly talented and thoughtful.

My one sister in law, Erica, knit this beautiful sweater for our baby boy. This is the Rufus Textured Cardi from the book Vintage Baby Knits knit from Knit Picks City Tweed dk. So adorable!

 And in my favorite color too!

She also made this AMAZING mermaid for my daughter as a "big sister present". This mermaid is seriously one of the cutest knitted things I've ever seen. There is so much detail.. I know she must have put a lot of time into it. 

The pattern is called Mermaid from the book Dream Toys. I love this book and everything in it. 

My daughter's 4 year old dark-haired cousin has a matching doll with brown hair so that they can play mermaids together. So very sweet.

And as you can see.. my daughter loves it! They have been inseparable friends lately. 

There was a moment of panic in our house when mermaid fell tragically behind my daughter's bed.. but she was soon rescued.. and all is well again. :)

My other talented sister-in-law, Malaree, made this amazing handsewn jacket for our new little one.

But I should mention... it also came with matching appliqued onesies...

AND reversible pants...

Yes. And EVEN matching shoes.

Does it get any cuter than that?

She seriously outdid herself with this one. I cannot wait to try this outfit on our baby!

These handmade gifts mean so much to me. It makes me feel so special that someone would spend the time to make these beautiful things for us. I truly appreciate all of the time and effort that went into each of these items, and they will be treasured for years to come.

Thank you so much!

A few weeks back, Hannah sent me all of her book samples just in time to display at a Coastal Knits preview event at one of my local yarn shops, Ranch Dog Knitting.

It was so fun to see the entire collection all together in one location!

It also was wonderful to finally see Hannah's east coast knits in person. 

..which fueled my unbridled obsession with this pattern...

The Rocky Coast Cardigan

It's the coziest, comfiest, most wearable cardigan ever. I want one. Now.

The Water's Edge Cardigan is also adorable!

And I thought it matched quite nicely with my Cambrian Cowl.

(For those of you who have been asking, the buttons are from HERE.)

I was also quite enamored with the beautiful side shaping on the Bayside Cardigan. 

It was even more striking in person.

Here is a 32" Gnarled Oak Cardigan knit up in the Bronze Age colorway from Pigeonroof Studios. 

It's a bit hard to tell in this picture, but it's a rich coppery color. 

My Wildflower Cardigan posing with my Sand and Sea Shawlette.

I often like to get my patterns test knit in an alternate color or yarn. 

Here are my two samples of the Cambrian Cowl. 

The cream version is the original from the book knit up in Alpenglow Yarn Big Fat Alpaca. 

The blue version was knit in Misti Alpaca Tonos Chunky. 

Both are excellent options for this design.

Here are two versions of my Rustling Leaves Beret. The lighter green is the original Tactile Fiber Arts version, but the tonal green beret was knit up in Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in the Wren colorway.

Any sock weight yarn will work will work for this pattern, but Tosh Sock is an excellent alternative.

For the Sand and Sea Shawlette, I had my second version test knit in Madelinetosh Prairie in the Cove colorway.  I wanted to show what this design looks like knit in one main color. Since Cove is a beautiful blend of browns and blues, it still evokes the feeling of the Sand and Sea combining on the shoreline.

This is such a versatile design. Any combination of lace or sock weight would be great for a light summery shawlette. But you could even do a thicker yarn for a more substantial shawl.

There will be two Coastal Knits trunk shows traveling the country very soon! 

Please check the schedule here to see if it will be appearing at a yarn shop near you! 

Over the weekend, I spent some time looking over the proofs for Coastal Knits trying to catch any last minute errors before it goes to press.

Seeing it in these printed forms, although they are rough, makes this feel very real. 

I am so excited about this book!!!!!!!!

In my latest podcast episode, I had the privilege of sharing a story from  designer Anne Hanson of knitspot.com about an incident surrounding her lovely Les Abeilles shawl. Pattern found HERE.

Just like all of her patterns, this shawl is just beautiful! 

And I think it would be a perfect pairing with this soothing Sea Wool yarn. 

I love this blend of colors!

This shawl project could be yours!

Enter to win this skein of Fleece Artist Sea Wool (provided by One Planet Yarn and Fiber) along the lovely Les Abeilles shawl pattern (by Anne Hanson) by leaving a comment under this post.

Please remember to include your contact information in your comment... 

and only one comment per person please!

A winner will be announced here on October 1. Please check back then to see if you have won!

Listen to Episode 58 for a special September promotion from One Planet Yarn and Fiber!

Drawing Now Closed! 

Congratulations to the winner, Fibercrafter!

Episode 58

Shownotes:

One Planet Yarn and Fiber

Pre-Order Coastal Knits

Hannah Fettig

The Designs in Coastal Knits

Rocky Coast Cardigan

Rustling Leaves Beret

Coastal Knits Drawing Giveaway

Coastal Knits on Ravelry

Rocky Coast Knit-a-long

Rustling Leaves Beret Knit-a-long

Join the Coastal Knits Ravelry Group!

Gramps Cardigan

Anne Hanson

Knitspot Patterns at One Planet Yarn

Les Abeilles Shawl

Fleece Artist

Sea Wool

One Planet Selection of Fingering Weight Yarns

Join the Never Not Knitting Ravelry Group!

Follow ME on Twitter!

The winner of Episode 57's Pulling At Strings Drawing Giveaway is Kellie! Congratulations!

*Please check back soon to enter the One Planet Yarn Drawing Giveaway for Episode 58!

Receive 20% off of all fingering weight yarns at One Planet Yarn and Fiber by entering code "NNK1" in the checkout process. This offer is valid through September 30th at oneplanetyarnandfiber.com and is exclusive to the Never Not Knitting podcast listeners and blog readers.

Remember in the last post when I mentioned a little something about this?

Yep! This is one fantastic giveaway! Everyone who pre-orders a copy of Coastal Knits is automatically entered to win this fabulous basket of yarn! All of these yarns were hand selected by us for use in our Coastal Knits projects!

Here's what's inside!

(From top left)

-2 skeins of Tactile Fiber Arts Wild Crafted series skeins dyed in eucalyptus leaves. 

This is enough to knit 2 or more Rustling Leaves Berets.

-4 skeins of Madelinetosh Pashmina in Isadora.

This will make the smallest size of the Wildflower Cardigan.

-1 skein of String Theory Hand Dyed Yarn Caper Aran in Skerry.

This is the yarn Hannah used in her Water's Edge Cardigan.

-1 skein of Pigeonroof Studios Cassiopeia DK in Bronze Age.

This is the yarn used in my Gnarled Oak Cardigan.

-2 skeins of Alpenglow Yarn Big Fat Alpaca.

This is enough to knit a Cambrian Cowl.

-10 skeins of The Fibre Company Organik in Heather Moorland. 

This is enough to knit the two smallest sizes of the Rocky Coast Cardigan.

I know that this basket is going to make one of you knitters very happy! 

We hope that you enjoy our new book, Coastal Knits, along with these amazing yarns we've chosen to work with!

Remember.. to enter the drawing, pre-order your copy of Coastal Knits HERE on our website!

Thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered thus far! We really appreciate your enthusiasm and support!

Guess whaaattt?

Finally! After much work behind the scenes...Our new book, Coastal Knits, is now ready for pre-order!

The scheduled ship date is mid-October, but if you pre-order your copy now, you can download our 

special Coastal Knits pre-order package!

The download package includes:

-An automatic entry into our Coastal Knits Drawing Giveaway! Look at all this yarn! 

(More info about what's included coming soon.)

-A book excerpt containing these two patterns for you to get started on right away! 

Rustling Leaves Beret by Me :)

Rocky Coast Cardigan by Hannah

-2 coupons for you to use in purchasing pdf pattern downloads here at Never Not Knitting and from Hannah at Knitbot.

-AND--- A special Coastal Knits "shopping list" bookmark! This is a handy bookmark that you can take into your yarn shop to help you pick out yarn for your projects, and later you can use it to keep your place in the book!

You'll have lots of fun things to keep you busy while your waiting for your copy to arrive in the mail!

Meanwhile, please also check out our new Coastal Knits Ravelry Group! This is a great place to chat and share pictures with other knitters who are working on Coastal Knits projects. 

You can also ask Hannah and me questions about the patterns, and even participate in a Coastal Knits KAL!

We'll be starting a knit-a-long for the Rustling Leaves beret and the Rocky Coast Cardigan very soon for all of you "pre-order..ers". :)

All of the pattern pictures are now up on  Ravelry! So start queuing up your favorites!

Visit our brand new website, CoastalKnits.com, for more information about the book, ordering, and the patterns themselves. There is even wholesale information for all of you shop owners who are interested in carrying Coastal Knits in your store!

We are so excited about Coastal Knits! We hope that you love it!

Are you looking for a new fall sweater project?

Well, look no further!

To enter to win these 4 gorgeous skeins of Three Irish Girls Springvale Dk in the Tree Fort Colorway provided by Pulling At Strings, along with the beautiful Lucette Sweater pattern by Amy Herzog, leave a comment under this post!

Remember to include your contact information in your comment.. and only one comment per person please!

A winner will be drawn and announced here on September 15. Please check back then to find out if you are the winner!

Someone is going to have one seriously beautiful sweater for Autumn!

To learn more about Pulling At Strings online yarn shop and to hear a great story from designer, Amy Herzog regarding this unfortunate incident with the Lucette Sweater...,please listen to my latest podcast episode!

Drawing Now Closed! Congratulations to Kellie, the winner! 

Episode 57

Shownotes:

Pulling At Strings

Baby Sophisticate

Malabrigo Worsted

Adventure Hat

Math For Hats

Saartje's Booties

Louet Gems Fingering Weight

Aviatrix

An Apple For the Teacher

Finger Foods Pattern

Hooded Jacket

Spud and Chloe Sweater Yarn

My Story About the First Hooded Jacket

Blue Sky Alpacas Sport

Gramps Cardigan

Lucette Pattern

Seatbelt Shot!

 Oops!

Amy on Ravelry

Amy's Blog

Three Irish Girls Springvale Dk

All of Pulling At Strings Yarn

Join the Never Not Knitting Ravelry Group!

Follow ME on Twitter!

The winner of Episode 56's VK Live Drawing Giveaway is Lorrie and the Alpenglow Yarn Drawing Giveaway winner is Avila! Congratulations!

*Please check back soon to enter the Pulling At Strings Drawing for Episode 57!

Receive 10% off of all Pulling At Strings orders by entering code "NNK10" in the checkout process. This offer is valid until midnight on October 1 at pullingatstrings.com and is exclusive to the Never Not Knitting podcast listeners and blog readers.

Hello everyone! Unfortunately I have come down with a horrendous head cold and won't be able to record the new podcast episode today. I am hoping that by tomorrow my voice will sound much better. 

Thank you for your patience!