have a heart (or two)

Hey fellow designers and knitters ^^/

i hope everyone is having a great weekend, the vache has been busy to say the least, and i found an exciting new opportunity for designers that i'll be talking about in just a moment, but first...


i know right now you're thinking "what is that, the pink brick road?" (yes it's bad joke day here at petite vache designs.) what it actually is, is a cool artsy-fartsy closeup shot of my newest design "heart to heart."





i fell in love with illusion knitting when i designed lucky stars, and with valentine's day quickly approaching i decided to write up a heart illusion chart so i can knit up some valentine's themed totes for the impending Etsy shop ^-^ i've decided to do one or two other charts and then combine them with the chart for lucky stars to create a one-tote-4-ways kinda pattern. the basic tote structure will be the same but it will have interchangeable illusion designs you can mix and match. and of course, i will be knitting up a few of each design for the shop so that anyone who either can't knit, or doesn't want to take the time can own one.


i've also decided to knit up some detanglers and modem cord change bowls for the shop as well, since those are my two most popular designs on Ravelry. but i really think my main focus is going to be on my knit totes, i've got some really awesome ideas for other tote designs (non-illusion) and i'll probably end up slipping a fabric lining into each of them for durability. i have a thing for cute little purses and totes, and in fact i still use my original lucky stars as a little first-aid kit in my purse complete with band-aids, neosporin, midol, hand sanitizer and antihistamines (petite vache haz allergies.) even without a fabric lining it's still held up wonderfully being knocked around in my purse for the last 6 months or so.

a pic of my lucky stars i took 2 minutes ago

i could really use some feedback on my ideas though, and for that i've added yet another new feature to my blog, the dreaded "reaction buttons" ::gasp!:: at the bottom of each post you'll find three options just like in the screenshot below:

if you like one of my designs you can click the "me wantee!!" button, if you're unimpressed click "meh" and if i ever say anything funny (hey, it could happen) i've added the "lol" button just incase. so feel free to let the vache know if you approve of the newest design heart to heart by clicking "me wantee!!" or "meh." teh vache appreciates constructive critisism :)

and now, fellow designers, lets talk about JoAnn Crafts new design contest "save the planet, one project at a time." clicking that link will take you to Joann.com's info page about the contest. all you have to do is design and knit (or crochet) something using one of 3 Red Heart Eco yarns. i'm really excited about this contest because my sycamore parasol is knit using Eco Ways, so it's a great excuse to finally finish that design. luckily i have until the end of March to get it done because i'm swamped right now with preparations for the Etsy shop. but the winners in each category will win 1000$ and 500$ Jo-Ann gift cards AND be featured in "Crochet Today" Magazine....free design exposure anyone?

i only hope i can finish my design in time to enter, i'll keep everyone posted on the status of the contest if i do end up entering, and really i'd be a fool not to. :P

well folks, that's about all for today. i'd like to thank and welcome all my new followers (petite vache welcomes you too ^^) and i hope everyone has a lovely and relaxing Sunday, back to work tomorrow :<

peace and love to all,

~Carla Cappi

we have a winner! (and another free giveaway!)

hello again everyone ^^/




it's been a busy week for me and i've got some really exciting news, but i'll talk more about that in a sec. first i'm happy to announce that Cary from Serenity Farms has won my first ever free pattern giveaway!!




i've sent her a free copy of the pattern for my newest design knock off just for following my blog and leaving me a comment. it's just that easy ^^ i've decided to do a free pattern giveaway everytime i release a new pattern, and there could be more giveaways of a different kind in the future because....


::drumroll::


i'm planning on opening up my very own Etsy shop soon to sell my patterns and handknit items! right now i'm in the process of finishing up a few designs and building up a good stock of items knit from my patterns and sometime very soon they will be on Etsy for purchase. soon you'll be able to own your very own lucky stars just like the one below:










it's only in the planning stages at this point, but i may also be collaborating with a very good friend of mine who paints and makes lovely jewelry. be sure to check back with the blog in the following weeks to find out more details on the shop, and to watch out for possible random free giveaways...hehe


you may have also noticed some changes to my blog layout recently. my darling husband helped me out a lot with my new header (i'm not very tech savvy, but i'm slowly catching up with the times :p) some other new things you might see are:

• a labels section to make my blog more easily searchable
• a country counter so everyone can see how many ppl from each country around the world visits
• a link to my Ravelry designer page

basically i've been having a great time pimping out my blog xD


and last but not least, i'd like to direct everyone over to Jenny's blog on knitting where you can win a FREE skein of this luscious yarn seen below:

this lovely Swedish yarn is 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon and comes in a 100 gram skein with a generous 440 meters ( thats 481 yards for us americans :p)

i don't know Jenny personally, but she's a good friend of my friend Sarah over at The Student Knitter, and any friend of Sarah's is a friend of mine, hehe. why not head over to Jenny's blog and show some support for her 100th post by entering her giveaway :)

and on that note it's time for this little vache to go and finish the planning of the new Etsy shop. have a great weekend everyone

~teh vache

free pattern giveaway!!

hi everyone ^^/

there's been a slight change of plans since my last instalment a few days ago. i took a few days off from working on my Rowena sleeves to FINALLY do the tech editing for knock off that i've been meaning to do for some time now. if you follow my blog then you'll remember that i submitted the pattern for knock off to Knitty.com's Winter 09 issue. unfortunately, Knitty didn't have room for it in their Winter issue so i decided to self publish the pattern on Ravelry. 3 months later, the pattern is finally up for sale, and it's my first official pattern for sale on Ravelry or anywhere else. if you're interested in purchasing the pattern you can follow the link under the picture below, or the link in my "patterns for sale" section to the right.

knock off

so far this pattern is only for sale on Ravelry, but i've been thinking of opening up an Etsy shop to sell my patterns and various other FO's.

but if you aren't a member of Ravelry and you still really REALLY want this pattern never fear! it's time for...

petite vache designs' 1st evar super awesome free pattern givaway!!!!!!

you heard me right folks, to celebrate my first pattern for sale on Ravelry i'll be giving away 2 count 'em 2 copies of the pattern for knock off. all you have to do is

• follow my blog (if you don't already)
• leave me a comment telling me what you think of knock off
• leave your email address in the comment section below, or if you prefer you can also email me at mellonninamarie AT gmail DOT com

i'll be announcing the winners 1 week from today (next thursday) and emailing the pattern in PDF format. be advised, though, only those who follow my blog AND leave a comment will be entered into the drawing, and only one entry per person please.

if this first giveaway is a success i may make a habit of doing one of these every time i premier a pattern, but you'll just have to follow my blog to find out ;)

well that's it for today folks, i'll be returning to my work on Rowena sleeves and hopefully have the pattern finished for them by next week. as always, i'll be blogging to keep everyone updated on my progress. don't forget to start following my blog and leave me a comment to win your free copy of knock off and have a great weekend everyone ^-^

~teh vache

new beginnings

i know it's a rarity for me to be blogging 2 days in a row but i just found a new and exciting opportunity yesterday and i couldn't resist the temptation.


KnitPicks has aparently launched a new partnership that will allow freelance designers to be published on the KnitPicks site. honestly, it's about time one of these yarn companies caught on. i've seen so many awesome up and coming designers on ravelry who have all been submitting to the same Magazines for months and months and the magazines just can't accomodate the influx of awesome patterns they are receiving. the way i see it, this is a win-win scenario both for designers and for KnitPicks. the designers get some much needed exposure, and KnitPicks gets a bunch more business, if only from the scores of novice designers like me who will now be designing almost exclusively in KnitPicks yarn for the chance of being published on such a well knowns and reputable site.


as a result of this new and exciting opportunity my new years resolutions plans have changed slightly. i decided my the next WIP i conquer should be one of my own design so i can get something to send to KnitPicks ASAP. so instead of working on that scarf and pair of socks i talked about yesterday, last night i dusted off my Rowena sleeves that sadly hadn't been touched in almost half a year, and began trying to figure out where in the pattern i left off. to my dismay i couldn't quite figure it out and since i wanted to test the pattern anyways i frogged all my lovely progress on the first sleeve and commenced re-knitting. i must have been really excited last night because i got almost as much done on it as i had before from a few weeks of work on it.


here's a pic of my progress before frogging:









and the progress i made last night after starting from scratch:








this pic was taken rather hastily so i didn't have time to pin in out like in the picture before but you can see if you follow the cable pattern that i only had about 3 or 4" to go and i would have been at the point i was pre-frog.


luckily the pattern for these little beauties is all but done at this point. the hardest part is going to be finding a program to write out the cable chart and doing the tech editing so i can make it as professional-looking as possible before sending it to KnitPicks.


i'll probably be working on these for another 4 hrs tonight and maybe i'll even have the first sleeve finished by tomorrow


::crosses fingers::


if i do i'll come back with pictures and blog for a 3rd day in a row!!!!!!


ttfn ^^/


~capn' vache

new years resolutions...

a hoy hoy everyone (or should i say all 4 of my followers ^-^)



so it's finally 2010 huh? and my poor blog has been lying dormant for the last 3 months or so while i've been on hiatus from designing and actually haven't been doing much knitting at all. with the holidays and my husband coming over from France i found it hard to focus on my knitting. and the struggle isn't quite over yet because we've still got the task of securing him a visa or greencard so he can stay in this country. bleh...



but now that the holidays are over i've started knitting again, which brings me to my new years resolution. everyone always makes these really broad and vague resolutions like "losing weight" or "spending more time with family" etc, but i remember reading somewhere that making your goals as specific as possible gives you a better chance of acheiving them so i decided to make mine very specific indeed. my resolution is to either complete or frog every single WIP i have, and while to some of you that may not sound like a very daunting task, i have about 5 years worth of projects hastily cast on in an excited frenzy and then cast aside. for me that amounts to at least 15 WIP's that i can think of off the top of my head, and it's probably closer to 20 or 25.

but i have vowed not to start a single new project in the mean time, nor buy any new yarn until i at least finish or frog all of my current WIP's.



now here's where the design blog comes in....



luckily, of those WIP's at least 3 or 4 of them are original designs, most notable my sycamore parasol and Rowena sleeves. So as soon as i finish up a scarf and pair of socks i started at the end of december and just want to be done with, i'll probably be starting on the Rowena sleeves so i can finally have a design worthy of sale on Ravelry. in the mean time though, i'm going to be finally publishing knock off (a knit paper-chain necklace creation inspired by Louis Vuitton.) but i'm debating with myself whether or not to publish it for free or to charge a very small amount for it (most likely 50 cents) just because it's such an original design and it pains me to just give it away like a common whore. if any of my readers have any thoughts on the matter please do let me know in my comments section below, i always appreciate outside input.



well i'll leave you all with a picture of my latest FO "echarpe à plis"







i bought this little kit for this scarf the last time i was in France to visit my husband
and started it about 3 months ago. so this is officially the first WIP i've finished in accordance with my new years resolution. so far, not a bad start to the year. let's hope i can stay motivated and finally kick a really bad habit, not finishing what i start.



toodles for now ^^/



~teh vache