I am so happy today to be able to share a little secret that I've been keeping! Back in July I submitted a design to the fabulous new online zine Petite Purls and it was accepted!...I was surprised and thrilled and am still absolutely over the moon about this! I love this zine—love the look of it, the idea of it, the whole thing. The first issue was so beautiful and I feel so honored to have a design in their fall issue. It's strange even after writing a book full of designs and having other published patterns under my belt, I still can't believe it when I get a new design opportunity. It feels utterly unbelievable and beyond wonderful that I get to spend my days doing something that I love so much! Plus, Allegra one of the editors of Petite Purls reviewed my book! How cool is that!...Thank you to Brandy, Allegra and Joan of Petite Purls for this wonderful opportunity! It was a complete joy!

The Ladybug pattern accompanied us on our family vacation, and I worked on it in every state between my front door and New England...I kind of love that! It was finished after our return home, amidst all of this. The pattern was a fun and easy knit and the yarn, Baby Twist by Alpaca with a Twist, is a dream come true. It is soft and lovely to knit with and the fabric is truly scrumptious, light, soft and drapey but with substance, not at all flimsy, if you know what I mean. I'll definitely be knitting with more of this stuff.

Then it was time for a quick photo shoot. Some of you might recognize my adorable model from a couple of the patterns in Fairy Tale Knits. Let me tell you, this little girl is a trooper. This shoot had to be postponed because of...well...life...illnesses, vacation schedules and squeeze in an out of town funeral and you get the picture. We literally had one open window for this shoot and it just happened to be the hottest, muggiest day of the year—really. You know the kind—I walked outside and my glasses immediately fogged over (and we keep our air conditioner set in the high 70s). It felt like walking into a steam bath. But I want to tell you that this little girl was a champ. She put on that Alpaca coat and worked it. This really reinforced my belief that natural fibers breathe—she never once asked to take this jacket off.

I thought you might like to see some scenes from the shoot...
New shoes!...always a good way to start!...

Almost ready...

So cute...

Let's try over here...

Look a leaf!...that looks fallish!...

Enough modeling!...see ya!...

As you can see from these shots, I had a lot of help. Thank you to little Eleanor, her wonderful parents, to my sweet daughter and dear spouse for getting up early and out on this steamy day! It was fun!