Knit Up A Bit Of Happiness With The Oregano Hat & Cowl

It's time for the second pattern in Herbed: The Seasonings Of Life!

I can't believe that it has been two weeks already since the release of the Thyme shawl. Today I have two patterns for you to enjoy knitting as you adjust to the fluctuating temperatures this time of year. This duo knits up quickly in a bulky weight yarn and is perfect for using your two favorite colors. 

This sweet duo will help bring a little spring into your life as you knit them. The origins and meaning of oregano is to bring happiness and joy into your life. In ancient times it was used medicinally to bring happiness, protection, and joy. Today, we know it to provide antioxidants and vitamins—no wonder it was thought to bring happiness and joy! It is most commonly known in cooking but it has a variety of health benefits.

The Oregano Hat & Cowl symbolize bringing happiness & joy into your life. It encourages you to enjoy the little moments in life & making the most from them. We can become so busy worrying about checking off our to-do’s that we often miss out on the beautiful small joyful moments that surround us everyday. But the great thing about knitting is that it requires you to think about each stitch taken and as you do you are reminded to slow down and enjoy the moment. 

Both the hat and cowl are worked in the round and feature a bud-like slipped stitch pattern with a lace body.  Choose two of your favorite colors of bulky yarn and alternate which one is the main color and coordinating color and you'll have enough to knit both accessories. Then wear the pair to bring rejuvenation and energy to your life as you prepare for spring.

You can get these patterns individually or purchase them as part of the collection. 

Save With Purchase Of Entire Collection

If you love food and gardening you might want to consider the entire collection Herbed: The Seasonings Of Life you'll get the Oregano Hat & Cowl as well as the Thyme shawl released in February.

8 Piece Knitwear Collection

The 8 piece collection features 4 shawls & 4 small accessories inspired by the meaning and culinary uses of herbs. Each piece in the collection will invite you to embrace the meaning of that particular herb in your life: to live life bravely, embrace happiness, marvel at the remarkable, appreciate wisdom & learning, be hospitable, & enjoy the affection of loved ones. Take a peak at the bonus photos included with the Oregano pattern:

When you purchase the entire collection your Ravelry library will be updated every two weeks through May 2018 with a new pattern for you to enjoy.

Although each pattern will be released individually you won't get the inspiring stories, gardening tips, or recipes unless you purchase the entire collection.

So, breathe new life into your knitting this spring with this collection inspired by herbs. Then embrace the flavors and of spring and the messages of these knits all year long.

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Herbed: The Seasonings Of Life Thyme Shawl

In the ancient world thyme was associated with healing, bravery, and courage. A sprig of thyme was once used in roman times and the middle ages as a gift for men going into war. They would attach the sprigs as a visible sign of honor, bravery, and courage.

Today the relevance of the being courageous bears significance everyday. Courage may require you to speak out against wrongs. Courage may require you to face the challenges of your day when you feel like giving in. Living bravely means so many things. But when you knit this slow growing shawl you will learn to face your fears, your challenges, the monsters in your life with bravery.

The Thyme shawl will encourage the wearer to life life bravely regardless of your circumstances. In times of great need or trial we are called to step forward and live out our calling with courage. 

Knit the thyme shawl as you take steps to embrace bravery and courage in your life. Wrap in around your shoulders through the uncertain circumstances in your life. When you knit this shawl knit with the intention of bravery and courage.  

This asymmetrical triangle shawl features alternating sections of stockinette stripes, and a textured motif. A lacey leaf border is added at the end of the shawl and then then picked up and knit along the lower edge. The main body of the shawl works well with a variegated yarn.

Save With Purchase Of Entire Collection

This shawl is the first pattern in Herbed: The Seasonings Of Life. This collection is for the knitter who appreciates the seasons of her life and wants to knit designs with meaning.

The 8 piece collection features 4 shawls & 4 small accessories inspired by the meaning and culinary uses of herbs. Each piece in the collection will invite you to embrace the meaning of that particular herb in your life: to live life bravely, embrace happiness, marvel at the remarkable, appreciate wisdom & learning, be hospitable, & enjoy the affection of loved ones.

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Bonus material included with the ebook!

When you purchase the ebook you will get a beautifully formatted PDF bonus which includes: inspiring stories, gardening tips, and a favorite original recipe for each herb. 

When you purchase the entire collection your Ravelry library will be updated every two weeks through May 2018 with a new pattern for you to enjoy.

Although each pattern will be released individually you won't get the inspiring stories, gardening tips, or recipes unless you purchase the entire collection.

So, breathe new life into your knitting this spring with this collection inspired by herbs. Then embrace the flavors and of spring and the messages of these knits all year long.

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Living Simply Is Hard When You're A Knitter!

Living simply is hard when you’re a knitter! Have you read some of those memes out there? I really love the one that says “I’m not going to buy anymore yarn….and then I laughed and laughed and laughed all the way to the yarn shop!” Yeah, that’s sort of me! It’s soooooo hard though! There are just so many beautiful beauties out there and I just want to give them a home.

The problem is, I don’t knit them up as fast as I can buy them! Don’t get me wrong having a stash is IMPORTANT!  You need to have one...and I mean...it's my work right? But I know there are some skeins in there that I don’t love, have passed their time, need to be used….but I know I never will.

I'm A Hoarder

My problem is, I’m a hoarder. I can tell you a million reasons why I might need that, or use it someday. The problem is is that someday rarely comes! So my yarn sits in their baskets, cramped and suffocating, as I stack purchase after purchase on top of it. Seriously, I can't even pull out a skein without 20 of them crashing down off my shelf.

It all came to a head this past June when Amanda of Little Bitty Delights and I hosted the Stash Dive KAL. I was taking some promotional photos and one of them involved taking my entire stash and filling my kids kiddie pool with it and “diving in.” Well, my fingering weight yarn ALONE filled the pool to overflowing. (It was two large garbage bags full….yeah, that’s a lot!) I finally admitted that my husband could be right, I might have a problem!

Help! I'm Living In My Grandparents House!

Then this past year my house has just gone from bad to worse. I’m tired of always tidying up and never actually being able to keep things clean. Enter Marie Kondo’s “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” Have any of you read/listened to it? I realized (after the 10th time listening) that I needed to do something quickly otherwise I was going to end up with a house like my grandparents!

I made a resolution that within the next six months I was going to go through each category and purge myself of the things I don’t love. Keeping only what truly brought me joy. So that’s what I’ve been doing! Following Kondo’s recommendation I’ve started with clothes and gone through all the clothes in our household. We now only have what we truly love….and I can now shut my closet doors!!!! It’s amazing.

But I want More Yarn!

It’s time. It’s really time to pare down my stash to only the skeins that I truly love. I know it’s going to be hard...but it needs to happen. I really want to use my stash as opposed to just having it languish in baskets and bins and never being used. I want to leave that guilt behind for good because, I want to buy more yarn! Lol Because when I go to buy yarn I want to know I’m going to use it as opposed to making random impulse purchases!

Let Your Yarn Stash Breathe

Starting January 14th for 5 days I’m going to go through my stash and pare it down to only the skeins that I truly love and that bring me joy. Then, I can display my beautiful treasures so I can see them. I want to free them and let them breathe.

If you want to join me I’ll be hosting a 5 Day Stash Love Challenge January 14-18, 2018. We’re going to free our yarn stashes, our books, magazines, and notations. Then, we’re going to organize them to perfection and display our treasures to enjoy. Lastly I’ll be giving you a free gift to help you maintain your resolution throughout the year!

Join The Stash Love Challenge!

If you have yarn languishing in the bottom of your closet or crammed into drawers and baskets then this challenge is for you! If you long to cast on something new but fear pulling out a skein because you’ll have to reorganize the entire shelf then this challenge is for you. If you have a huge rush of guilt over each purchase because you have 50 skeins at home calling your name….this challenge is for you. If you want to leave that guilt behind, enjoy your beautiful stash, and actually knit from your stash then this challenge is for you! Join me and let's love our yarn stashes!

The Results Of A Dare: Free Shopping Guide

Last week I took a dare to do a livestream. It was the first one I’ve done in a long time. The past couple months have been super stressful and lots of stuff on my plate so I’ve slacked on some of the key elements of connecting with my tribe. During the livestream I showed off my messy messy stash! There is so much good yarn in there but I can’t access most of it without causing the entire stash to come tumbling down. It ends up being to much work to pull out a skein to work from so I end up buying new yarn when I haven’t used what I already love and own. Now the quantity is just getting out of hand!

Granted, I’m a designer so I can excuse away some of the quantity away...but even at that I frequently end up buying based on new inspiration. I’d really love to actually use some of the yarn that I’ve invested in!

Naomi Grace Designs Shopping Guide

I created a Shopping Guide (get it here) to help keep track of what you have and what you'd like to have to create a well rounded stash. 

Then I was thinking that it might be helpful to go through our stashes together as a sort of morale support. So in January I’m going to run a 5 Day Love Your Stash Challenge to start your new year off with an organized stash! This challenge will help you have a stash you love & brings you joy. Would you be interested in participating in this challenge? Start your New Year by checking off a resolution right away!

You Are A Pink Starburst

Stop letting yourself be treated like a yellow starburst, remember you are a pink starburst! 

This design is going to challenge you to start taking care of yourself. To take a moment to drink your coffee hot. To sit back one evening and relish your favorite book. Or maybe just go fall asleep on your bed early one night and let everything else take care of its self. (Within reason of course, I understand many of us have young ones! Lol) It's going to challenge yourself to look inside and embrace the beautiful and wonderful woman you are. To begin to make positive changes towards the way that you think about yourself. 

That's Yellow Starburst Thinking...

Standing in front of the mirror wishing I could loose those last 5 pesky pounds from my last pregnancy. No longer do I have that toned body from spending hours in the gym. Now no mater how many crunches I do that belly flab won't go away. It probably doesn't help that my boys love to get ice cream every weekend in the summer!

As a mom my life is filled with meeting the needs of my family. ALL THE TIME. I've wondered at the end of the week "When was the last time I took a shower?" I've looked at photos of myself and not loved what I've seen. That's all yellow starburst thinking!

You Are A Pink Starburst! Why? Because you are beautiful, amazing, talented, funny, and one of the greatest women I know! You! Yes, I'm talking to you!!!! It doesn't matter if you've had three kids and lost your fab abs you had in college. It doesn't matter if the last time you brushed your teeth was two days ago. What matters that deep inside you are a diamond. And it's time to stop treating yourself (or letting others treat you) like the yellow starbursts that we all eat last. It's time to remember that you are a Pink Starburst!

This shawl design is packed with reminders that you are special. Simple mesh lets the light shine through you. Diamond lace stitches remind you that you are priceless and precious, more than diamonds! Then there are 34 points along the shawl edge to give you 34 reasons for why you are amazing, and extraordinarily special!  

As you knit You Are A Pink Starburst I want you to start believing that you are beautiful and special as you knit this shawl. 

Crescent Shawl Knitting Pattern-Whispers In The Wind

Coping With Imperfection

How do you deal with failure? Or rather, what do you do when things don't quite work out how you want them to? Do you get frustrated but keep going or do you throw in the towel? Maybe you take a short time out but then you jump back in.

I'll admit...I'm not really good at going ahead with things when I think I might fail. The fear is real real! I over think things and will sometimes physc myself out of doing something if I don't have all the pieces lined up perfectly. But I'm learning to overcome these short comings. I'm working on taking action anyways inspire of my fears of not having things perfect. I'm working on just giving it a try even though the action is imperfect.

How does this relate to knitting? Well, for one, my next design is going to be dealing with these fears. Second, I know often procrastinating on writing because I envision myself sitting down with a hot cup of coffee, in a quite house, and letting all my creative thoughts flow. LETS GET REAL! When was the last time I drank a hot cup off coffee without warming it up five times! A quiet house? Yeah, that flew out the window five years ago when my son was born! (Hehe)

Imperfect Action Is Still Action

Sometimes those thoughts of "I just can’t" threaten to overwhelm me. I just don’t even want to try because the potential failure. Apparently it’s not called imposter syndrome. That fear that holds you paralyzed and standing still not taking action because of all of your reasoned excuses. But that’s just what they are…excuses! I’ve learned a lot from Chelsea Fitch and Fiber Boss College. She said something the other day in a live facebook chat. She challenged us to take imperfect action. And that’s what I’ve been challenging myself to do lately.  Imperfect action…is still action. It’s humorous that this was a discussion right before the launch of my new pattern.

Whispers In The Wind because this was my first design….ever! That’s right, it was my first design….but I chickened out on publishing it because I didn’t have everything perfect. So I put it off and designed the Sunlit Autumn shawl and that was my first published design. Since last April I have gained confidence, learned about designing and running a business--taken action steps. Even though they weren't perfect.

About The Knitting Pattern

Whispers In The Wind shawl was inspired by the stronghold of the colorful layered rock formations that arise from the desert in northern Arizona—The Painted Desert. I remember as a teenager standing on a desert bluff overlooking the vast emptiness. My emotions in tumbles but soon the peace and tranquility of the desert surrounded me. Stirring my soul. I would gaze into the heavens as the sun fell to the horizon and feel the cool evening breeze shiver up my arms. Close my eyes, breathe in the warmth of the day and the coolness of the night, and trust that life will be ok.

Yarn & Needle Requirements

Knit in a bamboo/cotton blend, this easy to knit crescent shawl will be your go to summer wrap. Perfect for the warm summer days and cool nights, the cotton yarn will drape perfectly around your sun-kissed skin.

If you know you will be wanting to knit this one here are they yarn requirements so you can prep for them. This shawl uses Sample uses two skeins of Mary Gavan Yarns Desert (50% Organic Cotton, 50% Bamboo; 475 yards / 434 meters/ skein); In the colorways “Swirl” (a motley/variegated skein) and “Dusty Silver” (a shiny silvery white). US size 6 (4mm) 32 inch circular or larger or size needed for gauge. Optional beading uses approx. 250 6/0 beads and a #10 crochet hook. You can purchase Mary Gaven Yarns here. Or you can find other bamboo/cotton blends here and here.

You can purchase the Whispers In the Wind Shawl on Ravelry.

Extras Included In Knitting Pattern Purchase

• Everyone will get this beautiful 8x10 poster and tutorial links with this pattern! You can frame it and put it beside your bedside table for encouragement.
• If you are a newsletter subscriber you'll get all the release extras! A background for your phone, tutorial links, and a slideshow of quotes.

What about you? Do you wait for perfect conditions or do you just jump in and start? When you are confronted with a new pattern that you really want to knit but you don't know all the techniques what can you do? (In my new pattern release I'll be helping you out with this!) Take a step in the right direction and find a tutorial to teach your self the new techniques. You might be surprised at the results.