Army Of Knitters' Spring Collection '11: Flamenco

Inspired by the music, dance and costumes of Spanish Flamenco Heather Dixon's colorful collection aims to help you out of the Winter doldrums and get your temperatures rising!

Gitano

The way a dancer moves their head is very important in Flamenco, Dixon's designs start with the polka dot headband Gitano. It features fair isle color work, an adjustable button fastening, rose embellishment and the pattern is written in two sizes, work yours in your favorite color scheme.


Any one of these sexy tops will make you a hit on the dance floor and shine during any occasion. A seamless, top-down, raglan pullover with lace panels that shape the waist and hips at front and back make Cante very special.

Cante

Cante

Andalusia

Paying tribute to the Andalusia community in Spain where Flamenco was been born, Dixon's bold & colorfully striped Andalusia cardigan is completely seamless, top down, wrap style with a striped belt.

Andalusia

Seville

While Seville is a cropped, open front cardi with a polka dot pattern and three layers of lace sleeves, a great layering piece to take you through hot and steamy summer nights!

Seville

Caliente

The sexy bra top Caliente can be worn on its own or with cardigans, camis & lightweight tops and it was designed to be worn with Dixon's Flamenco style skirt, Baile.

Baile

Baile is a seamless, top-down skirt with lace ruffles that give you drama when you move and you have the option of knitting it full length or adding only one lace ruffle for a shorter look.

Shorter version of Baile

Viva Espana, the art of Flamenco dance and your Spring Knitting!

On Special this week are the fingering weight yarns of the Yarns On Stage Collection, save 25% on these exclusive hand dyed yarns from Prism Yarns, Claudia Hand Painted, Shibui Knits, Conjoined Creations, Twisted Sisters, Great Adirondack, Pico Accuardi, Alpaca With A Twist and all colors of Dream In Color Smooshy.

Lily Go's Metropolitan Shawl Kit Giveaway - We have a Winner

Congratulations to Kae!
She is also winkm33 on Ravelry.
Please email me, sandrasingh@sandrasingh.com

Thank you everyone for entering!

Also Round #2 for Voting on my Mascot Sheep's name has begun. Petunia was the winner from Round #1 and was moved forward. Drop by my Ravelry group, Sandrasingh.com and cast your vote.

25% Off Yarns On Stage Collection

Are you dreaming of your next Sock or Lace project? Make it extra special with one of these sock weight yarns hand dyed exclusively for the Yarns On Stage collection...

Yarns On Stage is a celebration of beautiful fingering weight fiber and the artists who make its colors sing. 9 of today’s hottest hand-dyers have lovingly dyed their most popular sock yarns in unique, limited edition colorways and created a special pattern to showcase the color.

This is an opportunity to knit or crochet with some of your favorite sock yarns, even discover a new one, in a very extraordinary color at 25% Off!

Twisted Sisters' Voodoo Green Teas(e)
50% Silk with 50% Merino Wool
380 yds/100 gms

Shibui Knits' Sock
Superfine 19.5 micron Merino Superwash wool
380 yds/100 gms

Prism Yarns Saki
100% Fine super wash merino
430 yds/4 ounces

Pico Accuardi Dyeworks Acid and Weed
100% Superwash Merino Wool
380 yds/100 gms

Great Adirondack's Silky Sock
70% Merino Wool, 20% Silk and 10% Nylon
360 yds/90 gms

Conjoined Creations Flat Feet
80% Superwash Merino & 20% Nylon
100 grms/400 yds

Dream In Color Smooshy Bubble Haze
100% Superfine Australian Merino superwash wool
450 yds/4 ounce

All in stock colorways of Smooshy are 25% Off!

Claudia Hand Painted Yarns Fingering
100% merino wool
90 grm/350 yds

Alpaca with a Twist's Socrates
30% Baby Alpaca, 30% Merino Wool and 20% Nylon
3.50 oz/400 yds

Each yarn dyer also dreamed up an original Pattern for their special colorway to showcase it's unique blend. But these versatile fingering weight yarns can easily be subbed for your favorite knit or crochet pattern too.

8 Quick Weekend Projects

Spring & Summer knitting is all about being on the go, these quick projects are easy to tote and relaxing to knit at home.

Hats & Cowls
It may be warm outside but one of these hat or cowl projects will help you use up the left over yarn from your latest sweater or afghan project.

JOJI's Fourinone

JOJI's Fourinone includes two knitting designs that can be styled as hats or cowls and all four look equally good on men and women.

French Press Knits Montebello

Inspired by the Swiss architecture French Press Knits' quick to knit Montebello Texture Cowl gives you instant gratification and it knits up almost instantly in Cascade's soft & bulky Magnum. And her cabled Breckenridge Cowl also comes together quickly in only 80 yards of your favorite super bulky yarn.

Knotsewcute's crocheted Soft Squares Hat & Scarf

Knotsewcute's child sized Soft Squares Hat and Scarf Set is crocheted in a fine washable wool and the stitch, unique tassels and slouch look make it a hit.

Slippers & Socks
It doesn't have to be cold out to enjoy a pair of slippers and Knotsewcute has done it again with these two new crocheted designs, the adorable Simply Felted Ballet Flats and for men, the Felted Men's Slip-Ons.

Knotsewcute's Simply Felted Ballet Flats

Knotsewcute's Felted Men's Slip-Ons

HeartStrings FiberArts Rainy Day Socks

And of course a pair of socks are a cool knit on a hot day and you'll have HeartStrings FiberArts' Rainy Day Socks on and off your needles faster than an April Shower.

Feeling lucky? My first April Blog Giveaway is for Lily Go's new Metropolitan Shawl and a skein of Dream In Color Smooshy to knit it in. Visit my blog post, knittingwithsandrasingh.blogspot.com to enter. No purchase necessary and the winner will be announced April 12, 2011.

Lily Go Sage Cardigan

And Lily Go's new Sage Cardigan may take a few weekends to finish but you'll love the results! Worked in a worsted weight, the front is singled breasted and the collar is a different style from her original Sage cardi.

Thank you for sharing my news. Throughout the month I also post information about sales and other news worthy events on these social media sites, I'd love to stay in touch with you there as well.
Ravelry Group: Sandrasingh.com
Facebook: Sandra Singh
Twitter: Sandrasinghcom

Lily Go's Metropolitan Shawl Kit Giveaway

Congratulations to Kae!
She is also winkm33 on Ravelry.
Please email me, sandrasingh@sandrasingh.com

Thank you everyone for entering!

My first Blog Giveaway for April is Lily Go's Metropolitan Shawl and a skein of Dream In Color's Smooshy to knit it in!

Metropolitan Shawl

I've often called the talented knitwear designer Lily Go "Queen of the Empire Waist Top." Through out her career she has reworked this classic tunic style adding modern feminine details such as lace, cables, buttons, belled sleeves and more. Lily believes in custom fit garments, tailored to flatter your shape and lifestyle and she writes her patterns with particular attention to waist, neckline and sleeve shaping.

Each of Lily's designs provides step by step instructions and measurement charts to ensure that each garment you create is custom fit to your exact size. Most of her tops are knit top down in the round with no seaming thus allowing you to try on as you go. For these reasons her figure flattering Simple Cabled Cardigan, Empire, Lace Sleeves, Dahlia, Sunshine and the crocheted Orchid have been big hits with my clientele.

Simple Cabled Cardigan

Empire

Lace Sleeves

Dahlia

Sunshine

Orchid

Lily has recently turned her attention to designing shawls and you'll be happy she did once you see her four new lacey creations. This giveaway is for her new Metropolitan Shawl which was inspired by Lily's view of a big city. Metropolitan begins with stitches cast on for the lace edge along the two lower sides, then stitches are decreased to produce a triangle shape and its knit with only one skeins of Dream In Color's Smooshy.

Metropolitan
Finished Size: 102 cm (40”) across top edge, 51 cm (20”) long from centre top to point.

Dream In Color Smooshy, Lipstick Lava

Bella

Darling triangular Bella combines a stockinette stitch body with scalloped edges and its knit quickly in only 370 yards of your favorite fingering weight. Pigeonroof Studios' Circe or Original Sock would make this shawl as unique as it is beautiful.

Narnia

Poison Ivy

And Narnia and Poison Ivy are also triangular shawls and are worked from the top down. All of Lily's shawl patterns includes charts, written instructions, stitch count totals for every row and tips how to make a larger shawl and the yardage needed.

Can't decide which shawl project to knit first? With Lily's new eBook you won't have to, the Shawls to Knit Collection includes all four of these designs, for only $15! And visit Fingering Weight and DK Weight to find the perfect yarn for one of these projects, email or call any time I'd be happy to help you decide.

Lily is also a busy mother. She designed this darling play dress Laurie for her oldest daughter. Its an easy knit project with some crochet finishes. To make it special, Lily added slightly ruffled sleeves and skirt hem plus two pockets so your sweet little one can carry her favorite sweets. It's a perfect dress for a play date.

Laurie
Sizes: 2. 4, 6, 8 & 10 years
Finished Measurements: Chest 58, 63.5, 68.5, 72, 76 cm or 22.8, 25, 27, 28.5 30"

Laurie includes a tutorial to make the crocheted picot bind off, to attach the pocket and to make button loops using a tapestry needle and instructions for knitting the dress in a Sport or DK weight yarn.

I've had the pleasure of working with Lily for almost six years and as you can see, though I was very new to the fiber arts industry, I immediately recognized her talent and exquisite attention to detail. Lily has grown as a designer writing patterns with even more flair and taking knitters in new directions. I'm happy she took a moment out of her busy schedule to agree to this Blog Giveaway and to answer a few questions for us.

Hello Lily, thank you for joining us, please tell us about yourself.

I live on a tropical island called Penang which is one of the states in a country called Malaysia, but it does not stop me from learning how to knit. I knew how to crochet since I was 6 and taught myself to knit about 4 years ago and after a couple of projects, I began designing my own patterns. I just love the process of designing my own patterns, from the imagining of the design to the drawing and even the math part of it. I love to wear something pretty and feminine and it is reflected in all of my designs. I have 2 small daughters that need a lot of attention besides my full time job, so I am happy enough if I can publish 3 patterns a year.

What got you interested in knitting?

It all started when my mother was pregnant with my baby brother and I was 6 years old at that time. My auntie, who took care of me during the day while my mother was working, was very good at crocheting baby items. I was fascinated with crochet and started to learn how to crochet. Several years later, I saw a neighbor knitting and was surprised to see that she was using 2 needles instead of 1. That was the first time I saw anybody knitting. I was to shy to ask the neighbor to teach me how to knit and I didn’t know anybody in the family who knew how to knit, so my desire to learn to knit could not be fulfilled.

When I was 18 and able to drive myself to the nearest LYS I learned from the owner how to cast on, knit and purl. She was a very busy lady and only showed me in a minute or two before attending to her other customers. I practiced the knitting techniques at home and found out that I didn’t like knitting after all. I found knitting was very slow, arduous, boring and once I dropped a stitch it lead to a disaster. So I stuck to crocheting.

Only about 4 years ago when I googled about something, that I stumbled across a knitting blog and it opened up a new horizon for me. Only then did I realize that it’s not only me who has a weird hobby. I found so many nice knitting blogs and was fascinated with all the fashionable knitted wearable's. So I decided to try my hand at knitting again. This time around I learned knitting, online from the internet. From the internet I found out about continental knitting and found that this is the best method which suits me and I started to fall in love with knitting.

What got you interested in designing knitwear?

I do not like to follow patterns as I am not good at following patterns, so I started to design my own patterns. When a lot of people started to compliment my design and suggest that I sell the patterns, I started to think “Why not?” I can use the money to finance my hobby as I realized that knitting is a very expensive hobby. It helps that I am strong at mathematics and grading my patterns to many different sizes doesn’t bother me.

I enjoy designing the most when the knitted end result of the design comes out just as nice as I envisioned it. I always feel a rush of satisfaction when the completed knitted design is what I expected and this feeling is very addictive.

Lily thank you so much for taking the time to talk to with us, it was a pleasure getting to know you.

The Metropolitan Pattern & Dream In Color Smooshy Giveaway includes the pattern, emailed to the winner as a PDF, and 1 skein of Dream In Color Smooshy in Lipstick Lava. No purchase is necessary to enter and the winner will be announced on April 12, 2011.

Enter this Giveaway:
The more ways you enter, the more chances you have to win and make sure to leave a comment telling exactly what you did to enter. Please make sure to include your contact information.

1. Leave a comment about your favorite Lily Go pattern, under this blogpost.
2. Blog about this Giveaway on your blog and link it, leave a comment under this blogpost with the link back to your blogpost.
3. Join my Ravelry group Sandrasingh.com and introduce yourself in the "Welcome Tell us About Yourself..." thread.
4. Announce this Giveaway in your Ravelry group or in another Ravelry group that allows you to announce Blog Giveaways.
5. Friend me on Facebook: Sandra Singh and say you "Like" my post about this Giveaway.
6. Announce this Giveaway (with the link) on Facebook
7. Follow me on Twitter: Sandrasingh
8. Announce this Giveaway (with the link) on Twitter.
9. Sign up for my Newsletter on my Home Page.
10. Sign up to "Follow my Blog."

April 2011 Newsletter

April showers bring May flowers, or in your case, April knits bring May's new looks!

In This Issue: Wrap Yourself Up in a Shawl / Give Yourself a Hand / Your Favorite Sweaters /

Wrap Yourself Up in a Shawl
A light weight shawl will easily transition you from the cooler days of early Spring into the warmer ones. Lily Go, Nelkin Designs and HeartStrings FiberArts bring you 7 new styles. Can't decide which project to knit first? With Lily Go's eBook you won't have to, the Shawls to Knit Collection includes her four new lace designs, Narnia, Poison Ivy, Bella and Metropolitan, for only $15!

Poison Ivy

Narnia

Metropolitan

Bella

Aventina

Nelkin Designs' beaded Aventina is a sumptuous, oversized scarf that you'll love to wrap around yourself. Its worked in two halves and grafted in the middle in Schaefer's silk wool yarn Audrey.

Tourmaline

And Nelkin's triangular Tourmaline is a fast knit in Schaefer's Anne and it quickly adds a little flair to any outfit. It was originally published in Knitscene and now available for purchase as a PDF.

Half Note Symphony Shawl

HeartStrings' Half Note Symphony Shawl is a semi-circular lace shawl, in alternating wedges of 2 harmonious colors, it features a fluted hem and scooped neckline turned back into an asymmetric collar. Purl lace short-row wedges, separated by spokes of garter stitch bands, gradually narrow as they encircle this sophisticated shawl.

Give Yourself a Hand
Knitting is a "hands on" activity, celebrate your crafty fingers with one of these new glove projects.

Clepsydra

Through The Loops' delicate Clepdydra mittens feature twisted cables flowing from cuff to fingertips. A cabled icord adds interest and rings the cuff and they're worked in Berroco's Ultra Alpaca.

Watch the ribs part to show the hidden beads glimmering in the shadows when you put on Sivia Hardings' Fluency Gloves and don’t miss the special twisted stitch pattern that adorns the thumb. The ribbing creates a delicious hug for your hands that is very stretchy. Pattern fits a wide range of hand sizes and they can even be knit fingerless.

Fluency

Errant Lace Hand Coverings

HeartStrings' Errant Lace Hand Coverings will keep your wrists and hands warm. The tapered fit, DK weight yarn and an easy-to-read lace stitch pattern make these simple and quick to knit. For symmetry, instructions are provided for making the left and right a mirror of each other.

Knit Look Fingerless Mitts

And Knotsewcute's Knit Look Fingerless Mitts are really crocheted. Their stretch will completely conformed to the shape of your hand and its created by slip-stitches giving you a flexible crocheted fabric. This easy pattern offers 3 different sizes that range from a teen to a man's medium, however the pattern can easily be altered to fit everyone's needs.

Your Favorite Sweaters
An easy fit sweater fits your lifestyle perfectly. Knit one of these projects this weekend and you'll have a fresh new look for Spring.

Cayden

Nelkin Designs' Cayden is an oversized vest meant to throw on over jeans and a t-shirt, your favorite dress, or whatever suits your mood. Seamless and worked from the bottom up, decreases occur along the bobble edge all the way up to the neckline so that the front hem falls gracefully downwards. Its knit in Schaefer's merino wool, silk and nylon blend yarn Heather.

And introducing a new knitwear designer, Joji Locatelli of JOJI! Her two new cardigan designs have a fluid drape that flatter many figures and look great paired with casual looks. Pole is very versatile, seamless and features a large collar, A-line shape and gathered cuffs. The circular piece of the body is built using short rows to form wedges. Directions are given for a seamless and a seamed version and the pattern includes 8 sizes knit with only 5, 6 or 7 skeins of Malabrigo Merino Worsted.

Pole

Penelope

While JOJI's Penelope is a fresh take on the classic cabled cardigan you love, a beautiful, modern cardigan, featuring cables and twisted stitches in the lower part of the body. This pattern is virtually seamless with only two vertical seams.

Cast on today and be wearing one of these new shawl or gloves by next week, or begin one these sweater projects and get hours of knitting enjoyment. Thank you for taking a moment to share my April news. I look forward to hearing about which project you work on and, as usual, I'm always happy to help you with any of your fiber arts needs.

VOTE: What is my Sheep's Name?

Thank you for voting! An overwhelming majority decided my mascot sheep is a Ewe and I have to say with her long eyelashes I’m happy with this outcome.

Its now time to decide on her name…

Visit my Ravelry group Sandrasingh.com, the thread is VOTE: What is my Sheep's Name?

We’ll have an open forum for a few days to give people time to make suggestions in this thread. Than I’ll compile the names and ask people to vote on the one they think fits her best.