New Stock...

I've just listed heaps of new stock including hand-knitted shawlettes, a beautiful hand-woven stole using Wollemeise hand-dyed fabulous yarn, felted bead necklaces and brooches.

The final shipping dates to Australia & the Rest of the World have, unfortunately just passed but there is still time for those within New Zealand to get things shipped out to them... so anyone thinking of treating a friend... or of course themselves! take a look... Charlisa Designs

Underground Xmas Markets

The Underground Markets released their 'Xmas Gift Guide' this week and it includes Zesty Scarflet both a knitted version and the knitting pattern.

The knitted version is not available on Etsy at this time - just the knitting pattern as they have been knit for stock at the Frank Kitts Market, however, there will be a small, select amount going on sale next year for non-knitters who wish to wear hand-crafted items.

We'll be back at the Frank Kitt's Market on 10th December all day so do drop in for your Xmas shopping.

Zesty Scarflet now available

Zesty Scarflet is now available for purchase on either Ravelry or etsy - it had a pre-launch yesterday at Frank Kitt's Underground Market - an art/craft market in Wellington City and almost sold out - it was very popular!  Also it got launched this morning and I have been pleased with the response.

Happy Knitting!

Zesty Scarflet Launch

I am planning to launch Zesty Scarflet pattern on 26th November at Frank Kitts Underground Market.  It is a pattern designed for both men and women - 2 designs, 2 patterns in one file - so you have the choice of knitting one or, the other version, or both.  The female pattern is lacy, whereas the male pattern uses much more masculine looking increases.  The pattern is currently in test-knit at the moment.  Very excited about the launch!

Also as I am off to market - here's a small sneak of items that will be for sale (shawls - there will be some hand-knitted shawls, but not the ones photographed - the patterns for these will be for sale).

Off to Market!

Charlisa Designs will be at the Frank Kitt's Market on Saturday 26th November and Saturday 10th December.  I will be sharing a stall with Sourkraut Spindles - beautifully hand-turned spindles, hand- carded fibre and gorgeous hand-made jewellery.

Please stop by and say 'Hi' - great excuse to get some gorgeous hand-crafted gifts for Christmas... you'll also be able to preview knitted samples of my new knitting pattern design - Zesty Scarflet which is actually 2 knitting patterns - one for male... one for female - it currently is in testing and by the 1st December the pattern will be on sale ready for Christmas knitters looking to whip up a last-minute gift.  All items will be available at special market prices - so make the most of it and treat yourself.... you know you want to - its Christmas afterall!

Catch up week...

Springtime... warmer, longer days and I thought I had escaped the Winter bugs, but no.... I have felt a bit under the weather this week, so have taken the opportunity to sit & catch up on all of the projects that I had started but hadn't finished so I can clear my head to finish the current design I'm working on...


I finished spinning up some gorgeous sock pencil roving from Vintage Purls.  This seemed really thin when I was plying it - so I decided to 3-ply instead of 2-ply it...  I ended up with a nice fluffy and thick sock yarn rather than the usual fingering weight.

I also finished weaving my first project on my 8-shaft loom - a scarf....  I learnt a lot and need a lot more time working on it but am pleased with the results

and I completed a couple of necklaces, below, which have been put on my Etsy Shop 

Grab some Fibre!

I have heard that Vintage Purls is having a fibre day on Monday 10th October... so if you were toying with the idea of spinning up your own silk-merino yarn to knit up Beach Shawl then stalk her website on Monday afternoon (NZ time) - products are usually loaded up around 3-5pm NZ time... and tend to sell out within a matter of minutes as they are so popular!  Colours are generally limited edition so jump in quick!  The orange version of Beach Shawl is Vintage Purls silk-merino fibre spun up to laceweight yarn... I spun mine on a drop spindle made by the fabulous Sourkraut.

Beach Shawl Pattern is Live!

Beach Shawl is being released for sale today both in Ravelry (as an instant PDF download) and on my Etsy shop - please note that if you order on my Etsy shop the PDF pattern will be e-mailed to you within 24 hours of your order being placed.  If you'd like to use the yarn I used for the blue shawl this is from Spinning-a-yarn (colour Airforce Baby) and is luxurious silk-merino lace.  If you're a spinner and would like to spin your own yarn, then the gorgeous orange shawl is spun from Vintage Purls silk-merino fibre to laceweight (absolute perfection of weight is not so important as gauge isn't crucial to this project).

Happy knitting!

New to the store this week will be beautiful felted ball necklace, and 2 rather cute matching belts - one in adult size and one in child size (in photo) in racy hot pink and bright purple... (these will be loaded on by tomorrow).

I've been finalising the Beach Shawl pattern ready for release.  The test-knitters have been busy knitting away and are almost done.  The pattern will be released this weekend in both the Etsy store and on Ravelry as a download.

I got a new toy last week - haven't had much time to play on it yet, and it is for work and not pleasure...  I got an Ashford Table Loom and I love it!  It took a while to put together and a longer while to work out how to warp it and get going, but now I am weaving away...

I am in the process of redecorating my studio so for the time-being the dining area is a small factory.  Here is my first cloth on it.  I need to work a bit on my tension but I'm really pleased with the results so far.

What's on the Needles?

Well - I can't tell you much - its a new design... but I can tell you its green... and is going to be very beautiful - another shawl -but a small 'kerchief style shawl to be worn around the neck... and it has some very cute sheep hanging out on it at the moment!  I can reveal its Vintage Purls sock yarn... that's all I'm going to reveal for the moment!

Test Knitting

Test knitting is now closed and underway for Beach Shawl.  Two lovely volunteers here in New Zealand are test-knitting and the release date is set at 3rd October.

More necklaces winging their way to the shop ...

New Necklaces in the Shop

New Necklaces can be found here with more coming later in the week...

Beach Shawl pattern testing call has been put out on Ravelry - if you are interested please contact Charlisa on Ravelry.  I have completed a test-knit of my own which has had beautiful results (see photo).  Date for pattern to be released is 3rd October and will be for sale in my Etsy shop and will also be for sale as a download on Ravelry - let me know if you want an earburn on there on the date of release.  I took some more pictures of my second test-knit today - it was a bracing day so getting dressed up in a summer's dress was a bit brave!!

Friday Friday

Friday today and the Rugby World Cup starts here in New Zealand.  The country waits in anticipation and black and white flags are everywhere.

I have more belts being added to the shop today...

Coming soon will be some rather snazzy shoelaces in girl and adult sizes... and I am working on some felted bead necklaces.

I've finished knitting and designing my 'Beach Shawl' pattern - just knitting up another one to check yardage and then am planning on sending it to test knit mid/end September... so I'll be looking for some test knitters on Ravelry - if you are interested in test-knitting this pattern please contact 'charlisa' on Ravelry.

Vendor's Apron

Over the weekend at 'Knit August Nights' I noticed a few of the vendors had snazzy vendor's aprons which sure beats rifling around in a plastic box or purse.  So I decided to have a look in my fabric stash for something hard-wearing to make my own vendor's apron.  I found this Cath Kidston fabric with a London print on it and knew this was the one.  Added a pocket with a nice chunky zip and one of my hand-woven belts to the top to tie it round my waist with as well as advertising my belts at the same time.  Really pleased with the results and am now all ready for the craft market!

Knit August Nights - Napier 2011

I attended 'Knit August Nights 2011' event in Napier over the weekend with about 60 fibreholics!  Noone would know it is still winter in New Zealand - we were all in T-shirts all weekend soaking up the sunshine!  We had various workshops, a trader's market, plenty of knitting and socialising time, and a group meal with a knitter's quiz night which was a lot of fun (especially as our team won!).  Amongst those attending were regular knitters, spinners, knitting shop owners, fibre dyers, artisan yarn dyers, a magazine author and a rather talented spindle maker.  All in all a very interesting group of people from all over New Zealand!

This was the view from the workshop on Friday afternoon - I did an Entrelac workshop, followed by a very useful shawl construction workshop on the Saturday which will come in very useful for my designs.

On Saturday we had a factory tour of a woollen mill which, having become a spinner in the last year, I found fascinating seeing the process on a large scale - I had to hold back from diving in with all of that lovely soft squishy fibre and yarn!!

And.... I spent far too much!  here is some of the yarn/fibre that I bought... it was all far too tempting!!  I have consoled myself that at least 5 of the lots of yarn are for designs I am working on - good excuse to splurge!!

New Items In Store... plus preview of Beach Shawl

I've been busy making brooches and belts the last couple of weeks - today these are going to hit my Etsy shop 

I am also working on my 'Beach Shawl' PDF pattern, which I am hoping will go to test-knit in September ready for launch sometime in October.

Warping the loom

I've been warping up my inkle loom ready to make some belts and bookmarks for Charlisa Designs.  Current colours on the loom are pinks, but more colours will be arriving every week...  I have managed to whip up a belt for myself and a matching but smaller one for my daughter before starting Charlisa Designs items too - my belt is shown below....

Its Open!!

Announcing the opening of Charlisa Designs etsy shop:

Charlisa Designs

The shop is pretty empty at the moment apart from some brooches.  Here are a couple of my lovely brooches with suggestions on how to wear them.  All brooches from Charlisa Designs are unique.

but it will soon have handknitted, hand-woven, crocheted and sewn items in it.

I am also hoping to soon release some PDF knitting, and eventually, crochet patterns on etsy as well.