Summer Time Drive By...

Once again it was a crazy busy Summer with lots of travel to see family and friends....

Here I am with my new Great Niece Kamie.

Toffee sitting on my first sewing project in years, a cushion for my porch settee that turned out a bit to small, but Toffee didn't seem to mind one bit!

My youngest nephew Justin, a native Texan and all around boy's boy, showing off on his Pocket Rocket!

Here my DH and I are visiting some of my dearest friends Doug and Rose and their beautiful and talented children Jasmine and Mathew.

And once again Toffee, this time in front of my garden.

Win a Jane Thornley Pattern!

We have the 3 Winners!

1st eBook of their choice: pelicanknits
2nd any Jane Thornley Pattern (not an eBook): Tapley’s Design or Shellca on Rav
3rd any Jane Thornley Pattern (not an eBook): Grammye

Please email me at Sandrasingh@sandrasingh.com with the name of the pattern you desire!

And Thank You to everyone who entered!

Welcome to the World of Jane Thornley
Where Color & Texture Abound!

I've had the pleasure of working with Jane since 2006!  And I've immensely enjoyed introducing each of her new designs to you.  To celebrate this 7 year collaboration we've put together this Giveaway for 1 of Jane's eBooks and 2 more of her Patterns, all the prizes will be the winner's choice!

The lovely Jane modeling her Northern Woods wrap which is a pattern in her Knit Me A River Evocative Guide.

Meet Jane: Born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, I began my knitting life at twenty-one years old with my first project – a trunk warmer for an elephant. Supposedly a sweater sleeve by intent, the fact that my hands had created this miraculous piece of slubbed, apricot-coloured, textile overrode niggles of disappointment.  My passion for yarn had begun.

I took extension courses through the Nova Scotia School of Art and Design but, with the help of my mother and so many wonderful books and magazines, taught myself most of the beading, embroidery, sewing, painting and drawing techniques that have since embellished the otherwise plain surfaces of my life. Give me detail to austerity any day. Something to catch the eye, draw the attention deeper into the subject, is my preferred aesthetic. My early multi-coloured sweaters (pictured on this site in my first exhibition at the Mary Black Gallery) contained as many as 50 different colours of yarn. For me, colour and texture rule and most of the inspiration feeding my imagination comes from the natural world. I see knitting as art, as viable as any other, and no matter what the tool or preferred palette, in human hands, magic happens.

Creating jewelry is a relatively new passion, though a natural extension of my love for colour and texture. My bead drawers brim with semi-precious stones, pearls and metals from all over the world which lure me to compose talismans of adornment for otherwise bare necks and wrists. Wherever I travel, I find inspiration and more beads to weave into something to celebrate the rich global trove in which we live.

Besides jewelry creation and knitting, the latter of which has sustained me on the parameters of many demanding executive careers in public education, I also write women’s fiction.  Seven novels, a few agents, and a tendency to focus more on writing than the business end of becoming published, and I’m still authoring at least one novel a year. Once upon a time, I was listed as one of the most popular authors in fiction and mystery on the now defunct Time-Warner website, I-Write. I am currently also working on a book for knitter’s tentatively entitled ‘Adventure Knitting’ which takes the knitter on a ride through the textural landscape of novelty yarns. Check my journal for more on current writing projects.

Besides a Bachelor of Arts with Honors in English and a Bachelor of Education, I hold a Masters of Library Service and spent many years as the passionate advocate of school libraries. Like so much of human experience, after a certain steam burns away, what is left hardens to the core. Adhered to mine, then, is the love for books, learning, and the celebration of the human voice through words or art. Only recently have I come to fully live what I believe.
My wonderful, supportive husband, John --a talented stone mason, painter and cabinet maker in his own right--and I live on the edge of the Partridge River, in a place that has become a sanctuary and an inspiration for us both.  Jane 

Please take a moment to explore Jane's collections.

Inner Circles eBook

Jane is the master of "themed collections" and features them in her beautifully written eBooks.  

Falling Leaves and Winter Frost Capelets

A delightful collection of Capelet designs await your cold shoulders!

Medici Jacket

"Sophisticated statement pieces" is an apt description of Thornley's Cardigans & Jackets collection.

Water Garden Shrug

The Water Garden Shrug is one of Jane's most popular designs, the pattern includes two versions.  And her second shrug, Monet's Pool is also well loved.

Tuscan Cowled Tabbard

Jane's Tops collection has garments for each season of the year.

Sea Glass

A versatile Vest is a must for everyone's wardrobe and Thornley's designs are not only unique works of art but functional as well.

Bohemian Sundance

And with 12 different Wrap designs to choose from you're sure to find one that you adore.

Enter this Giveaway: The more ways you enter, the more chances you have to win. Make sure to leave a comment(s) under this blog post telling what you did to enter. And please make sure to leave your name and check this blog, Facebook, Twitter and my Ravelry group on October 4th to see if you have won.

The 3 Winners will be announced Friday October 4th.  

 
1. Take a look at Jane Thornley's pattern collection and tell us which is your favorite and why. 
2. Blog about this giveaway on your blog & link it, leave a comment under this blogpost with a 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 a Ravelry group that allows you to announce blog giveaways. 
5. Friend me a Facebook: Sandra Singh and write a comment on my Wall about this giveaway. 
6. Announce & link this giveaway on your Facebook Wall. 
7. "Like" my Facebook Page, Sandrasingh.com 
8. Follow me on Twitter: Sandrasinghcom 
9. Announce this giveaway with a link on your Twitter page. 
10. Follow this blog. 
11. Sign up for my Newsletter on my Home Page.
12. Pin and link your favorite Fiber Dreams' pattern on your Pinerest page.

How true...

25% Off Malabrigo Yarn

Celebrate October Malabrigo Stockpile

Tourist Sweater by JOJI

The Malabrigo Junkies Ravelry group is hosting October Stockpile!  Celebrate and Stock up on your favorite Malabrigo Yarns now so you have what you need for your upcoming "gift knitting" and than for your quality "knit for me" time. 25% Off all Yarns, prices are marked.  Order online or call 877/519-1693 or email.

Pictured is JOJI's Tourist Sweater, knit in 5-9 balls of Merino Worsted.

Make Baby's 1st Christmas Even More Memorable

Baby Angel 

Annie's Woolens' Personalized Stockings

It's never to early to begin your Gift Knitting!

Hand knit with your loved one's name the Baby Angel Christmas stocking is the perfect gift for a new baby! Fill them with onesies, rattles, or even more hand knits, these adorable stockings will create memories for years to come.  And you can even add baby's birth date on the back to commemorate this special occasion.

For your pets and other family members Annie's Woolens has many heirloom stocking designs to choose from, enjoy browsing her Collection.

Cascade 220 Superwash Sale and a Free Pattern

My Favorite Color

The "My Favorite Color" pattern is free on the Fall knitty and its knit in only 4-7 skeins of "super easy to care for" Cascade 220 Superwash which is On Sale!  The garter stitch accents make for an interesting knit while waist shaping on the back is hidden in the garter stitch panel.  It will make a great addition to your wardrobe or a very thoughtful gift!

Has the promise of cooler temps put you in the mood to knit a pullover, vest or cardigan, visit Sweaters for even more project ideas.

3 New Lace Shawl Designs from Gardiner Yarn Works

Calling all Lace Knitters 

Chrissy Gardiner of Gardiner Yarn Works' loves designing lace and it shows in the rich textures and elegant drape of each of her shawls. Grab a skein of your favorite Fingering or Lace weight yarn and get started tonight, all 3 patterns are available for instant download after the purchase.

Stampede

Gardiner loves entrelac and its shows in her wrap design Stampede!, which is knit in 800-1100 yards of a fingering weight yarn.  She shares..."Its one of my favorite knitting techniques. I love its modular nature - the triangles that start and end every other row, the center rectangles knitted onto the piece as you go. If you loved my other entrelac wrap pattern, Birch, Stampede is like Birch’s big sister!

Anne of Alpha B tempted me with this lush colorway, named Pendleton Roundup after Oregon’s famous fall rodeo and dyed onto a luxurious silk-merino base. I played around with a number of leaf lace motifs before modifying one to result in a path of diamond shapes reminiscent of hoofprints. With the rodeo theme of the yarn and the zigzag nature of entrelac, could this be named anything but ‘Stampede’?"

Ayame

This luxurious little triangular wrap is named for the Japanese Iris (the little eye-shaped lace motifs remind me both of an Iris flower’s bloom and the iris of a human eye). The pattern consists of a short repeat edged with a simple eyelet border, making it easy to expand into a larger shawl and its the perfect project for my Sandrasingh.com Lace!

Portlandia

This is the story behind Gardiner's Portlandia shawl..."This shawl was a total experiment in shaping that happened to turn out just right. I wasn’t sure if it was actually going to work until I bound off and tried it on, and I’m quite delighted with the result!  The patterns are bird-inspired, prompted by the popular Portlandia meme “put a bird on it” which also happens to be the name of this stunning colorway from Knitted Wit."  Knit in 600 yards of a fingering weight yarn.