Natural Baby Collection

Yesterday I spent some time putting photos in the NEW Natural Baby Collection patterns and putting the patterns on the web.  We'll have downloads available tomorrow.  Meanwhile, enjoy, as I have, these wonderful pictures of Karen's grandkids modeling these cute garments.

Karen, from Mountain Meadow Wool, took the pics as the yarn is all made in their wonderful worsted weight Laramie, 100% Mountain Merino so soft a baby can wear it.

Don't you just love the attitude in the Soaker Skirt pic (pink top).  She's got it!


Jill sorted through all the photos Karen took and did a fabulous job of selecting pics then putting them on the fleece background.  They make me want to write captions!

Check out more pics.

Surveys

Recently, we sent out invitations to participate in one question surveys to our email list.

The One-Skein Project survey asked:  

Which type of one-skein project are you most likely to choose in a fingering weight yarn?

542 knitters responded, with the following results:

Gloves       20%
Scarf (flat) Scarf (flat) 51%
Cowl Cowl          29%
Beret Beret          15%

(I just checked the math and these don't add up to 100% because people could select more than one.)


Next, the Choosing Yarn survey asked:

When choosing yarn, what most impacts your decision when price is similar and color is not an issue?

481 responded, with the following results:

Fiber Content   68.5%
Softness            27.5%
Twist or ply        3.2%
No response (wrote comments only)  less than 1%

We set this survey up so knitters could add comments.  We got lots of those and thank you!  Knitters are a thoughtful bunch and many like to share, which is how we all learn. 

The next survey, Luxury Fibers, went out a couple of days ago.  So far 320 have responded to the question:

When considering a luxury yarn, what fiber do you most prefer with merino?

Alpaca        28%
Cashmere   27%
Silk             41%
Other             3%  (this latter seems to mostly be combinations of the above)

We're having fun learning what knitters like.  Look for more surveys from Y2Knit!

The little things

Sometimes it's just the little things that make our day.  Yesterday, the little thing for me was my Ear Light.  I was sitting down to eat dinner about 6:30 and the power went out.  I have one flashlight, a very heavy one, and some battery operated candles which give off just a low glow.  I also have a bright, lightweight ear light!

I put it on my ear and was good to go. Enjoyed my dinner (lentil dahl, cauliflower curry and spicy green beans) and dug into my Jonathan Franzen book.  I had planned to be at the computer and after a moment's wishing I had an iPad (charged), just enjoyed the reading time.   I was so grateful to have an easy solution.  I was just about to switch to knitting when the power came on ninety minutes later.

When my son visited recently, he put his ear light on to go out to the car to get something in the dark.  Jill wore hers when she couldn't sleep at TNNA and didn't want to wake me.  I used it the other night when I had alarm issues and couldn't get enough light on the panel to read it.  Everyone should have one!  Probably more useful than an iPad!

You Never Know

It is cold in SF. It was 41 degrees when we got to the Farmer's Market Saturday morning and for us, that's cold. So the good thing is that I get to wear my bright green wool jacket and the fabulous Missoni-ish scarf my friend Nancy gave me whenever it gets cold, but really, we just aren't equipped for it.

I practically ran through the market to get my produce out in the back (avocados, lettuce--lots of things available, that was just all I needed) where it is really cold with the wind off the bay. I struggle into the Ferry Building to get Mitch who is in charge of bread and cheese (only needed bread this week) then to the front to get fruit. The folks at the orange stand come from the central valley and they looked sooooooooooo cold. They are always there and I truly appreciate all the vendors who come for hours (I complain about my 30 minutes!). Then off to get apples. Mitch and I had to do a little juggling to split the load, but then we're ready to head back to the car.

Standing waiting to cross the street, huddled into my jacket and giving Mitch one of my regular rants about why can't people stay to the right so it is easier to negotiate passage. I know that someone has come up to my left, but I'm on a roll and don't stop. So when the person leaned in to say something to me I was afraid she was going to tell me I was a lunatic (possible?). She said "I hope (that's when I got nervous) you are an artist or a designer. Those colors are so wonderful together!" I replied, "Thanks! I am!"

I forgot that I was miffed at Mitch for bailing out on the remainder of the errands when I remembered how great I looked. Thanks!

Photo Shoot Outtakes

Since Susan and I don't have a lot of opportunity to be around babies (by choice on my part!) we have recruited Karen at Mountain Meadow Wool to supply good looking babies for photos of the Natural Baby Collection. Yesterday I was reviewing photos to choose what would go on the pattern fronts and every single one of them is precious in its own way--but I thought I would share a couple that didn't make the cut. As I said, each one is special and some of them didn't make the cut simply because there was a better one.

This guy doesn't take a bad photo. I think he will be a star someday. These didn't make the cut because the photo was incomplete, not because they

weren't adorable!

And not to leave out Susan's grandson, this photo was clearly taken on a day he wasn't feeling it!

It all started with wet diapers

Jill and I never thought we'd design a collection of baby clothes.  We've knit blankets, hats, and other things for babies, but just because we can.  Surprisingly, our best selling pattern is the Sampler Afghan.  

Then, a couple of years ago I was visiting my grandson Ian and his parents in Bellingham, WA.  At that time, Ian was just 3 months old and he and his mom were going to a cloth diaper "party".  I had to ask what this was and learned that she would be presented with various styles of diapers and have the opportunity to purchase what she wanted.  She just wanted to meet other moms, but since she was using cloth diapers, she thought she could learn something.

I'd been exposed to wool soakers through shop customers, so I told Kelly to see if they recommended those and if so, I would make Ian some.  I couldn't attend this event as we dropped them off on the way to the airport for my return trip. 

A few days later, the request came through and I started knitting soakers.  Kelly would provide feedback and I'd tweak my design.  After a few pairs, Ian had his favorite and most useful pair, but in getting there, I had knit soakers of three lengths.  Because we design knitwear at Y2Knit, I kept notes and wrote up the pattern for the Rib Soaker. 

Jill saw them and her comment was that you almost wanted to have a baby to put in them they were so cute.  (We also described them as a hat, with legs.)  Her next step was to sketch some other baby fashion,  now the Natural Baby Collection, which we're releasing in March.

New Logo

We love the new logo!  It's crisp and stylish.  We like the emphasis on the 2 since there are two of us and the squiggly yarn ball reinfoces the knit (and it looks a bit like Jill's signature). 

Jill and I spent three days in Las Vegas last weekend doing business planning.  While there's a lot to do, we're both excited about the directions we are heading. 

One of our most immediate projects is reformatting patterns into our NEW PATTERN LAYOUT.  It's awesome and reinforces our new look.  What's different:

• full size pages
• stylish new look with new colors
• lifestyle photo on the front
• layout for easy downloads
• more photos inside

Jill's been busy (and I hope having some fun) working up photos with backgrounds that reflect the collection.  We chose a map of Wyoming for the Occidental Collection, our newer designs using Mountain Meadow Wool.