Esme McStrippit and other news

We've been busy indoors this winter.  First off, kids have been growing so I knit a new kid sweater.  He then posed, with great joy, and I had to pass it along to everyone else to enjoy.  He's sporting a one-of-a-kind handknit by Mommy striped sweater made of plotulopi (Icelandic, unspun yarn) and seems delighted by it. This twin is particular about his sweaters so I'm relieved that this seems to have been a home run!

The kids have been learning at home, doing remote school since the end of October.  This involves a lot of reading time, and we seem to have also trained Sadie the dog into enjoying reading time as well.
While I'm helping kids learn through a pandemic, I've had a slow down in terms of articles coming out... but this piece ran in the Jewish Independent on January 15th: 

Kindness a blessing to share

During the first few days of January, I managed to make this wool tweed vest using a fabric remnant from Fabcycle in Vancouver.  I was thrilled to use up deadstock fabric and this has been a great additional winter layer so far.  (plus, it has a pocket, and I can never have enough of those!)

The kids added to their 'learn to sew' samplers with a 'here's how to do a running stitch' lesson.  I hadn't been pushing these lessons until one day, one of my boys started to cry because we weren't having enough sewing and art lessons.  Well, OK then!  Happy to oblige...!

Last, but certainly not least, I have finally (FINALLY!) released a new knitting pattern.  Hallelujah.  It took me long enough!

This is called Esme McStrippit and when I uploaded it onto Ravelry, I discovered it was my 80th pattern there.  In honour of this new pattern, I'm celebrating with a sale.  Get 20% off all my patterns!  This sale is happening on Ravelry  and on Payhip and ends on Tuesday, January 26th, at midnight, Central Time, US&Canada.

Use the coupon code:

Esme

For the 20% off discount!

Here are some of the shots of the sweater--the one shot with me in it was taken by a kid, too!
 

Here comes 2020!

In 2019, I designed and published 4 knitting patterns: worrybear, strippymcstrippit, deirhart and thestayputkippah.

 I also wrote and had published more than 65 articles, helped edit a diabetes health book, and returned to sewing—since October, I have made myself 4 dresses, 1 pair of pants, a vest, some dish towels and a summer tunic! Whoa. My boss is reasonably satisfied with my output....
(I am a freelancer.  The boss is me!)

To celebrate 2020 and my upcoming birthday, I am offering 20% off all my Ravelry patterns (including Three Ply, which was featured in Vogue Knitting Magazine this fall!). This ends January 5th at midnight, CT. Thanks for celebrating with me! Have a wonderful new year!
Use this 20% off coupon code on Ravelry:
2020


Psst!  I sent a new pattern off to the tech editor...Stay tuned!  Here's something new for 2020...I can't wait to share it with you!

Back to School Sale!

The first day of school went smoothly around here, thank goodness...and I am finally getting back to my work life.  All the work (writing, etc.) has to happen when kids are asleep, guests have left, and this makes for one very tired freelancer.

I recently had an article come out here--but I need to avoid commenting on details to protect the privacy of some vulnerable minors.  It's a bad situation, but that's all I can say for now.  It fits under the category of 'something has gone really wrong with protecting kids.' I used to teach in inner-city environments like DC and Buffalo, NY, I know when something should be reported, but I'm worried that no one will look into this, despite my best efforts to report the info safely.

In happier news:

I'm having an article come out in the next issue of PLY Magazine!  It's called "The Mad Felter" and I'm excited to see how it looks in print.

In other happy news...

I am running a sale over on Ravelry!

Use the coupon code:
backtoschool2019

and get 20% off all my Rav patterns until September 12th.  (ends midnight, CT, US & Canada)

This is your chance to get my new pattern, Strippy McStrippit, on sale, too!

I'm giving blog readers a special opportunity to get the sale a little bit ahead of everyone else, too...if you read this, feel free to share the promotion! Thanks for checking out my work!  Happy September!

Sale & Freestyle

This fall has been intense--lots of stuff on the homefront to sort out and fix.  This past week, Sally the dog (now, age 14!) had a bad tummy ache and we were worried things were all over for her.  She seems to be on the mend...with a lot of antibiotics, anti-nausea pills, and more.  Meanwhile, things haven't been quiet elsewhere either.

I wrote about some of it in this article that came out last Friday:
Sorting out playground fights

The short version is that untangling what's happening in my twins' lives can take a while. Lots of appointments and drama. Sometimes, it's a lot easier to fix a sweater!  Stripe Freestyle had a major blow-out this past weekend.  This is one of the cuffs, and suddenly, I saw my kid's thumb going through the cuff like a thumb hole...where I hadn't made one when designing the sweater!

He loves this sweater.

So, first I got it off his body. (not easy, actually.)
I waited until all seven year olds were asleep....
I put a piece of white paper behind the enormous hole so I could really see it.

I picked up stitches substantially below the beginning of the hole, using a double pointed needle one size below what's called for in the pattern.  Then, I began recreating the cuff, picking up whatever weak stitches and edges I could on either side of the hole.
When I was finished, it did not look perfect or untouched.  In fact, I even took a tapestry needle and stitched over many weak stitches I'd spied around the hole--after this was knit up.

And making this, and RE-making this, felt good.  He loves this sweater and has worn it just about every other day for the last year, and I have no intention of trying to either knit a whole new one or shop for anything right now.  Instead, I fixed what I'd made previously, and that was the kind of "reduce, reuse, recycle" mantra that I'd like to have more of in my life.

After the big mending job, it needed a bath, and then it dried on a towel on the radiator over night, and is now good to go.  I am, however, encouraging my lovely boy to consider rotating his sweaters a bit more, because this one will not last forever.

THE SALE
If you too are a "maker" sort?
I'd like to invite you to download a pattern from Ravelry, at 25% off, with this coupon code:
Making

The sale lasts until midnight, CT, on November 30th.  Please share this "Making Sale" with friends!

Stay warm.  Happy knitting, cooking, reading, resting on the couch, and enjoying this hibernating season. :)

A new design for the trains

I'll preface this by saying that the tragic events in Pittsburgh last Saturday have really thrown me for a loop...and many things have taken a back seat to this tragedy.  I've already had to write a column on deadline about it, and well, maybe I'll be able to write more here later.

However, I've got little kids, so we need to find things to celebrate and talk about to counterbalance this grief.

The big news in Manitoba is the return of the train to Churchill!    In fact, our prime minister even visited Churchill to celebrate.
In honor of this event, I've released a new sweater pattern.  Well, no, actually, I'd designed this train-themed sweater with my twins previous to the announcement, but what a great coincidence, huh?!

On Track is now available on both Ravelry and on Loveknitting.com.  It's a kid sweater (good for boys & girls, truly unisex) in sizes 2-10.

It's also available for sale on Ravelry for 50% off until Sunday, November 4th, at midnight CT (US & Canada) with the coupon code:

Churchill

The day of the photo shoot, we played outside.  This is what twins, one dog, and two handknit sweaters look in action. (Other dog was hiding under the porch, and two parents were trying to keep from being run over...)

new design! new article!

By the middle of Hanukah, we had to submit to the inevitable-fun-...parties, exhausted kids, and even one day home (each) from school with a low fever and a cough.  We're all worn out by partying, but it was a great holiday with lots of singing, fun, sweets, oily foods and treats for kids.

Then, last night we all went to the school winter concert.  My kids did a great job, it was a lovely concert, lots of good music, dancing, and fun...and we're worn out.  So worn out that when we walked to the car, we saw two people take a tumble on the icy sidewalk ahead.  We saw them get up, we walked on--and then I fell, taking one of the twins with me.  It was like a cartoon.  Suddenly our feet were no longer touching the ground!  Ouch. We're all ok--but I'm mighty sore today.

While this happened: The Jewish Independent ran my article, which I think I'd called
Don't throw your brother in a pit.
They called it "How to treat siblings, others."
(This piece also ran in the Jewish Post & News, if you're a subscriber.)
Note these brothers, modelling my newest design...

Today, I also launched Stripe Freestyle. This is my newest Ravelry design, and it's available ON SALE for 25% off until December 31st at midnight. (Central Time, US & Canada)  Use this coupon code for the discount:
Freestyle
This design will also eventually be available on Love Knitting, but you can take advantage of the sale right now!

Happy knitting,reading, and relaxing--I hope you have an awesome winter break.  Posting may be spotty from now until early January as I will be entertaining two six year olds.  Temperatures here will be dropping steadily after tomorrow. On Sunday, it may warm up to -19C (-2F) so my guess is that we'll be playing inside. :) 

Making as a way of giving Thanks

As a dual citizen (US/Canada), I'm often feeling betwixt and between this time of year.  We celebrated Thanksgiving in October in Winnipeg, but right now, everyone --my family and friends--in the US is running around, getting ready for Thanksgiving.  We will be having school and work as usual tomorrow... but I can be thankful anyhow...

1)So, I'm throwing my own party here on the blog.  First, if you've been wanting to buy any of my Rav Patterns , including my brand new pattern, Woolly, you can save 25% off any of these patterns on Ravelry from now until November 27th at midnight (Central Time, US & Canada) with the coupon code:
Thanks

2) Second, if you are the kind of person who wants to say thank you by knitting for others, well, that is awesome.  Yarncanada.ca wants to help you by giving yarn for you to knit for your good cause.
They are offering free yarn (with a contest) to knitters in both the US and Canada who like to knit for good causes.  So, if you knit for charity, hop on over there and enter their competition; the deadline is December 15th.

3) I cannot really cope with this time of year without cooking stuff.  So, I'm making a roast and some potatoes and sweet potatoes and some squash and kale---and....my Professor bought me this cool set of things I had to tell you about.  Here in Winnipeg, we have lots of root crops.  We have an extended season vegetable share this year, so we're getting a lot of cabbage, carrots, etc and there's only so much slaw a person can eat, let me tell you.

As my friends know, my attention span for cooking is about 24 hours.  After that, I seem to forget things like sourdough starters or sauerkraut and, at least when I lived in the Southern US, they would grow strange pink or green colors and the Professor would come along and throw it out to protect us from keeling over.  (He took those university health and safety classes while I did Arts& Social Sciences. :)

But I still was curious about fermentation.  Small batch fermentation in a cooler climate seemed like more of a sure thing, so he bought me Pickle Pipes and glass Pickle Pebble glass weights to try this out with canning jars and rings.  (We already had loads of those) I'm making my first small batches of sauerkraut and pickled carrots now.  They sure look good sitting on the counter...and these silicon pickle pipes have a little valve at the top so the fermentation gets air without introducing anything else into the concoction.  I look forward to seeing how it comes out.

--Canadians, here are links to Amazon.ca for these things, I used the US links above first--
 Pickle Pipes and Pickle Pebbles

(I'm using a handmade book by my friend Janet as a way of keeping notes on my kitchen experiments.)

Have a wonderful holiday, or a great Thursday--wherever you live!

Sale!

For Knitters...(my fiber tribe!):
There's a great knit-along/crochet-along, once a year, to celebrate knitwear designers in Canada.  I'm thrilled to be a small part of it.  I've donated a few patterns as prizes--to be given away to lucky winners!  Also...
In celebration of the CANADA KAL/CAL 2017, It's 20% off on all my Ravelry patterns from now until June 1st.  (Ending at midnight, CT, US & Canada)  Please use the coupon code:
Cankal2017
to get 20% off.
This event offered me the chance to see what I've done, designing-wise, in the past year on Ravelry.
Here are some photos and links to what's new this time around:

 Undertow came out a year ago, and I wore it a lot this winter.  Soft, stretchy, and definitely warm...mine just got a wash so I could tuck it away.  Here's hoping I won't need it til October!

Gigadistal is a super bulky, fast knit, great for combining a couple (or three) strands of yarn.  It is a fun accessory for cooler spring/summer/fall days.  I've worn my sample quite a bit.

 Nanodistal, knit from laceweight linen, is Gigadistal's cousin.  Same rough shape and construction--very different effect!  I wore this even on the hottest day.  It really dresses up loose summer clothing, and I love the drape of linen.

 Plum Ribbed Cardigan is a new release of an older favorite--formerly a Knit Picks exclusive.  This cardigan took me a while to reknit, but once done?  It was so cozy I even wore it to sleep!

Last but not least, the Thump Thump Mittens--textured, stranded knitting with a little red, released in time for Valentine's Day, 2017.

I hope you find something special to enjoy and get 20% off during this sale.  

Thanks, as always, for checking out my designs!

Happy American Thanksgiving!

I missed North American Thanksgiving this year.  Yup.  I'm a little sad about that.
I was in the US for Canadian Thanksgiving in October, and in I'm in Canada for US Thanksgiving... but I am still thankful, and want to pass along something to you.

Here it is.  You can save 25% off of any of my Ravelry Pattern downloads from November 23rd through November 28th.  (the sale ends at midnight, CT, US & Canada)

Please use the Coupon Code:
Thanksgiving2016

So, after all the turkey is cooked and you're ready to relax, sit back and get knitting, you'll have some new patterns, on sale, to enjoy.  Here's the link to my Ravelry patterns.  Knit On!

Accessibility Matters

Our local CBC website has been running a series on disabilities and accessibility in Manitoba.  By some strange coincidence, I had submitted an opinion piece on the issue as they were organizing the series behind the scenes.  I feel proud to have my piece included:
Let's get serious about making Winnipeg public schools more accessible

This is so important.  I wrote this for every kid who has broken a leg (I have) or had any sort of disability, short or long term, that makes gaining access to school difficult.  I feel so lucky to have had a place to submit this essay, because, well, we all deserve equal access to education, no matter how we get there.

On a lighter note:  Thanks to all who have taken part in my February sale opportunity on Ravelry!  Knitting (and dreaming of new projects) is a great way to get through a cold, cloudy, and long February.  I sure would like to kick my cough and get to enjoying knitting (and everything else) again.  Viruses, be gone!  :)

a drive-by post

It's been a busy time, complete with a a bunch of vaccines (dog and kid), some stitches being removed (from Harry the dog, he had surgery last week, he's fine) and a kid's nasty ear infection.  I've been rushing around from the vet to the pediatrician's office today.  I am beat!

However, here are a couple new articles, one on the CBC online about the province's recent cosmetic pesticide ban...(no secret, I'm in favor of the ban...)

Local food, dandelions, and harvesting the lawn

Another article came out last week, about finding different avenues to prayer.  I actually called it "Davening with the angels," but it's the same article here, under a different name:  (davening means praying in Yiddish)

Finding holiness in different ways

Finally, in celebration of 3 different family birthdays this month, our upcoming 17th wedding anniversary, and the release of my new eBook-- Three Ply--, all my other Ravelry patterns are on sale until June 28th.  They are all 20% off with this coupon code:
June2015sale

OK, that's the news from here!  I'm off to go make tempting breakfast foods for a kid whose ears hurt a lot...and he feels nauseous and hates the taste of the new antibiotic so much that he is yelling "THROW IT IN THE GARBAGE CAN, MOMMY!"  at the top of his lungs.  Gotta admire the volume he achieves, I guess...

Makes writing about dandelions, or better yet, being outdoors admiring them, very appealing about now.  :)

Earth Day: Every Day

Wednesday, April 22nd, was Earth Day...and I didn't remember to post.  Instead, we've been collecting recyclables to bring to preschool for art projects.  We've been using (and re-using) our cloth diapers... UPDATE: both boys are mostly toilet trained during the day.  Not at night though. Oh well.  It's a process.

Anyhow, we make an effort to think about the environment whenever we can.  It has to be manageable, but sometimes we find going the extra distance to choose the right thing, is worth it for us in the long run.

I wondered what sort of photo to post with this, because things are not green here yet.  Earth Day happens at a time when we don't even have grass or leafy trees...just the odd bud or two.  It was 14F (-10C) this AM.   So, I remembered last summer.  We just recently finished eating the bags of frozen strawberries from our basement freezer.  We still have lots of homemade jam left.  Here we are, on a windy, cool July day last summer, in a strawberry field relatively near Winnipeg.  We went picking twice.  We had great fun, including an impromptu ride on a farm "gator" tractor.

I was featured on a blog this week -- likely because of how Knit Green's ideas coincide with Earth Day.  Although my books were published by Wiley & Sons, this part of their publishing business was sold to Turner Publishing...and here's their blog!

Joanne Seiff links two loves: knitting and reading | Connect | Turner Publishing

To celebrate, I'd like to offer a discount to anybody who might like to download a knitting pattern (skipping the paper for the pdf?  An Earth Day move!) on Ravelry.

Until May 15, use the coupon code:
Celebrate!
to download any of my Ravelry patterns for 20% off.  Springtime - and thinking about the earth- are well worth celebrating.

New Article & Boxing Day Sale!

Here's my latest article on the Manitoba CBC website:
Gifting Experiences--Not Things

Note: That's the title I gave the article when I submitted it...but while the article itself is largely what I wrote, editors usually choose the headlines.

My article talks about making things for people, volunteering and sharing experiences with those you love instead of buying lots of wide screen TVs.  In terms of experiences, I want to enable people to make things, of course! Until December 31st at midnight (EST), my knitting patterns on Ravelry are on sale.

20% off all my patterns with the coupon code:
boxingday2014

Since my patterns are in "cost of a cup of coffee" range anyway, I think that counts as purchasing something towards a positive knitting experience.  I did start the sale itself on Boxing Day, but due to the winter break demands of preschooler twins (one with the sniffles), I've been delayed in posting here.  If you'd like up-to-the-moment info on Ravelry sales, please consider joining my Rav group. It would be wonderful to see you there...and if the group were a bit more talkative!

I'd also like to wish everybody who reads this a warm, happy and healthy 2015.   Wishing you all good things in the year to come.

Take good care,
Joanne