On the Needles/Hooks

Just a quick post to show everyone a few of the fibers I've currently got in design play:

Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine in the Grapefruit Mix colorway 

Neighborhood Fiber Co. Rustic Fingering
in the Columbus Circle colorway

And, just so you can see the gorgeous yarn I used in the most recent design, the Wyvern Warmer, since I couldn't reveal it prior to Yarnbox subscribers receiving it:

MJ Yarns Peruvian Dream Worsted in the Green Dragon colorway

Yarny life is pretty good.

The New Designs Just Keep Coming

Happy Friday, everyone! It's mid-January, and yet another new third-party published design is on tap to be introduced today,

Yarnbox is a monthly yarn subscription service that is doing great things with yarn dyers and producers, and I'm thrilled to be once again featuring a new design with one of the yarns in their monthly "classic" box. I'm so pleased to finally be able to introduce you to the Wyvern Warmer, and the wonderfully hand-dyed yarns of Jonathan Berner at MJ Yarns.

In fact, this is one design that was inspired almost entirely by the fiber used. I conceived and sketched this design based on the fiber content and weight of the yarn scheduled for the January classic box without actually having the yarn. Once I received it (and oh, what awesome color!) and swatched, I knew I was on the right track.

The resulting short poncho is bursting with great lace, color and style. The mix of alpaca, wool and silk provides wonderful warmth and great drape. Construction is super easy and it fits a wide range of sizes. 

I hope the Yarnboxers are as thrilled with this month's yarn selection as I was to design for it. This worsted weight yarn is, in a word, yummy.

Oh happy fiber arts Friday!

A (Sort of) Milestone

You can see these lilacs here
on my Flowers board

As many of you who follow this blog regularly probably already know, I'm not much into numbers ... as in numbers of social media followers. I am far more interested in those who have been with me (and will continue to be with me) for the long haul.

So it is with a major amount of surprise that I realized this morning that I have 800 followers on Pinterest. While I know that may be a small potatoes number to many of you, for me it's huge! My Pinterest board activity far outpaces any of my other social media outlet activity, so I thought it might be fun to get a little background on all those Voie de Vie followers:

This awesome riot of color
can be viewed here

Top five pinner metro locations (highest to lowest):

       New York
   Washington, D.C.
      Los Angeles

These pretty in pink peonies can be
seen on my Flowers board here

        Atlanta
    Philadelphia


While my audience is far and away from the United States, the next four countries who pin from my boards:

        
        Canada
    United Kingdom
     Netherlands
       Germany

The five boards with the most amount of followers (highest to lowest):

             Flowers
             Interiors

I love the color play in this
arrangement, which you can see here

         Stylemakers
Fashion Weeks/Events Around the World
    I Tought I Saw A Puddy Kat

And, along the sides, you'll see the five all-time most pinned images from my boards. It's no coincidence that four of them are flowers! Although, I must say that in the last thirty days my Fiber Fanatic board has been getting a fair amount of repins.

I had no idea when I created a flowers board that it would become my most popular board - I only knew I love flowers and wanted to share their inspiration with others. Go figure.

Of course, the board I want everyone to follow - my original designs board, is still in its quest to gain further traction. That's alright, I am patient. 

And last, but certainly not least, this
lovely living space can be seen here
on my Interiors board. In the past
I've blogged about its popularity.

And while I thought my Interiors board would be the runaway hit (but was eclipsed rather quickly by those darned awesome flowers), the big surprise has been my Stylemakers board, which came out of ... like ... nowhere, to jump into the third most-followed board.

Pinterest has been a very good thing for me - not only in terms of sharing my inspirations and a way to visually show a good portion of my making, but it has also contributed to design sales (although I am less interested in this direct connection). It's nice that Ravely now tracks sales referrals for shopkeepers. 

I thank everyone who follows my boards, and I hope I continue to be a visual inspiration to each of you.