Posted in Carol E. Herman Designs, knitters, knitting, Ravelry, Weekly Photo Challenge

Weekly Photo Challenge: New Horizon

The challenge:

This week, we’re challenging you to think ahead and show your work in a representative photo. If you set New Year’s resolutions, give them some thought a few weeks early. If resolutions aren’t your style, show us something that you want to achieve — it could be setting a new goal, making plans, or even tackling that pile of laundry waiting by the washer. The goal is to get out of the busy “now,” and imagine your new horizon. Go!

The photo:

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I am excited about new horizons in 2017! My hope is to change all of my design monikers to knit equals joy.  This will include my designer name and my Ravelry group. The beautiful gold and blue colors you see on this page consistently and constantly call to me, so I foresee them as being front and center in my branding palette (not necessarily in my design palette, although they certainly crop up a lot!).

I enjoyed pulling together the yarns and other items for this still life. Photography continues to be a love of mine, and I look forward to improving my photography skills in 2017 by taking classes and getting in lots of practice!

Thanks for stopping by for my interpretation of this edition of the Weekly Photo Challenge: New Horizon.

knit equals joy

Posted in Carol E. Herman Designs, craft, Ravelry

Advent Mini Swap – Handmade

I’m so excited to be part of the wonderful group of knitters who crafted these beautiful and wonderful gifts we all opened on the second Sunday of Advent. I love the different choices made and the beautiful craftsmanship. These handmade decorations really put me in mind of Christmas, and it brings me joy to see them all together in this collage.

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knit equals joy

Posted in Carol E. Herman Designs, knitting swaps, Ravelry

Mini Advent Swap

In a few days I’ll share a collage of the handmade items that were opened on the second Sunday of the Mini Advent Swap going on in my Ravelry group, Carol E. Herman Designs. Until then, I wanted to share this picture of this adorable Christmas scene knit by Jen. This Ravelry group is one group of amazing, creative, and kind people!

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photo by stamura, used with permission

P.S.  I’m thinking of changing my Ravelry designer name and group name to knit equals joy. What do you think?

knit equals joy

Posted in Carol E. Herman Designs, knitting swaps, Ravelry

Summer Spa Swap II – Another Swap in the Books!

The Summer Spa Swap II – A Day at the Beach swap is now complete. It was a great swap; everyone was very creative, and I even designed the Castle Beach Spa Cloth for the swap! I love seeing the generosity poured into these swaps – even into these mini-swaps where we’re limited to spending just a little bit on the packages we send to our SPs (swap partners).

I love that our swaps are secret swaps. No one except for our amazing organizer Jen knows who is sending to whom.  It’s such fun figuring out what your SP would like and then plotting and planning and putting together a special gift just for that person.  It’s also great fun anticipating getting a package in the mail and then finding out who sent it. And I think our group also has fun admiring the creativity shown in the packages put together by each person as the packages arrive and as pictures and thanks are posted in the group.

One of my favorite things to do after each swap ends is to put together a collage of all the great swap packages – like this one:

Summer Spa Swap 2016 Collage (1024x1024)

I think our next mini-swap might be a Fall/Halloween mini-swap after the Ravellenic Games are over. There is talk of a mini-Advent swap too. Our swaps are great ways to get to know some other knitters a little better, to make a quick little project, and to receive a fun little something too. Come check out the group if this sounds like something you would enjoy.

knit equals joy

Posted in Carol E. Herman Designs, knitting, Ravellenic Games, Ravelry

Team Knit equals Joy – The Ravellenic Games 2016

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Team Knit equals Joy is joining the Ravellenic Games! The Ravellenic Games – a fun way to connect with other knitters and to challenge your own skills. They take place during the Olympic Games but, of course, are not affiliated with those games.  The goal is to challenge yourself to begin and complete at least one project between Friday, August 5 and Sunday, August 21 – and to have fun doing it.

15 events cover just about any type of project you want to make:

Afghan Marathon,  Bag Backstroke,  Cowl Jump,  Frogging Trampoline,  Garment Polo, Hat Dash,  Household Heptathalon, Mitten Medley, Scarf Hockey, Shawl Sailing, Sock-Put, Sweater Triathalon, Synchronized Spinning, Toy Toss, and WIPs Wrestling.

The Ravelry-wide event awards virtual prizes. Generally these are a graphic you can post on your Ravelry profile page and on your project page. Pretty fun to post those prizes proudly!

We will have prizes in our Knit equals Joy team, too…real prizes like yarn, bags, patterns… come check out the thread in my Ravelry group for more details!

We would love to have you join our team!  It’s like a giant KAL, and so much fun. Hope to see you there!

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knit equals joy

Photos by unsplash.com.

Posted in art, Carol E. Herman Designs, knitting, knitting swaps, Sketch

Creative People, Beautiful Creations

So, we are having a summer swap in my Ravelry group, and Paula drew this on the envelope for her swap partner. Maybe it was a simple act for her, but it brought joy to her swap partner and, later, to the rest of us. I hope it brings a bit of light and beauty to your day as well.

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By PLC1

Thank you, Paula!