Rowan Spring + Summer 2014 /  by jen geigley


Looking and thinking ahead to warmer times seems like a smart thing to do since we've been bombarded by sudden snowstorms and school closings due to sub-zero temperatures and even lower sub-zero windchills. So today I'm going to share some of Rowan's new Spring and Summer 2014 yarn and pattern books. Above is the gorgeous cover of Magazine 55 and a skein of Pure Linen in Kalahari. (I'm feeling better already.)


Let's start with the yarn! On the left are three balls of Rowan Silkystones, which is a combination of toussah silk and linen. In the center sits a ball of Truesilk, a chainette yarn made with 100% mulberry silk which is very light and interesting, with a bit of sheen. And on the right are two skeins of Pure Linen, made with 100% natural linen and perfect for light-weight knits. I'm really curious to see how the linen knits up.


And new pattern brochures! Lots of them. I could probably look at them all day. First up is Simple Shapes - Panama with a summary collection of shawls, sweaters and cropped cardigans knit with Rowan Panama. Next is the Mini Collection featuring eight Fine Art Aran designs by Kim Hargreaves and Martin Storey. And the third booklet is Simple Shapes Purelife Revive & Summerspun, eight relaxed designs using Purelife Revive and Summerpsun yarns.


And there's more! Shown here are the Truesilk Collection, 15 stunning designs ranging from accessory pieces (scarves and berets) to lace sleeveless cardigans and cabled cropped sweaters, all styled with a 50’s inspired theme. In the center is the Pure Linen Collection, a modern collection of relaxed sweaters and lace layering pieces, showing off the drape of the Pure Linen. And finally there's the Silkystones Collection, twelve textured, easy to wear knits with laid-back openwork. (This collection was photographed on the stunning Southwest coast of Spain!)


And there you have it. New yarns in new fantastically inspiring colors to get excited about! I'm still working on a bunch of winter knits but I'm seriously hoping these extremely cold winter days will be a thing of the past in the near future. Until then, I will pore over these new shade cards and start planning my next projects. I've got a lot of things in the works to share and an awesome giveaway from Knitter's Pride coming up, so check back soon.  ;)

I am a scrapbooker. /  by jen geigley


I am a scrapbooker. 

There, I said it. It's kind of embarrassing sometimes when people say 'you ... what?' But I am. A scrapbooker. It's something I have to do. I care. A little bit too much. About taking all of the pictures. I care about beautiful papers and prints and patterns and color schemes. I save things. I write down the stories, even if I'm not the best writer. I really like that kind of stuff and I don't care if some people think it's dorky. I'm back, I'm doing it. Here we go.

My parents took a lot of photos when I was growing up and looking at them now absolutely has an effect on me. They bring back memories and they make me feel. We all want to see things the way they were, remember times long gone and see the people we love in their younger years. We want to know the stories and where we came from. I'm pretty sure it's human nature.

In recent years, I took a hiatus from scrapbooking. On my break, I explored other crafts and hobbies. There's nothing wrong with that. But while I was gone, I missed scrapbooking.

I used to be into it pretty deep. If you've read this blog since, well ... the beginning, you'll know that I was very much into scrapbooking in years past. I would scour Two Peas for days. I became pretty involved at SIStv. And Red Velvet Kit Club. And all kinds of challenge blogs, collaborations and art journaling projects. (Remember Work Your Soul?) I finally I found my tribe with my girls at The Dares. If I'm losing you, I am so sorry. I'm getting deep down into the denizens of paper crafting people here.


But eventually I felt burned out by the 'old way' of scrapbooking, fun as it was. I would spend entirely way too much time on one page that would hold one or two photos. Convincing myself that I could realistically keep up with documenting life in that painstakingly slow way started to feel overwhelming. So I stopped completely. I didn't know how to carry on so I didn't. I still love most of those old pages I made – don't get me wrong. But with all the work I was doing, I wasn't keeping up with life. What made me feel worse was the fact that during my scrapbooking hiatus, a few more years had come and gone and I didn't feel like it was possible to go back where I had left off and start again.

I realized that my children didn't have baby books. And that bothered me. Their best and most eventful years existed in the photos on my hard drive. I had scrapbooked random moments about Lotus when she was a baby but the story I wanted to tell was not there. My favorite photos were not there. I wanted to share it all and I needed a better way to do it. I thought about this for a long time. I saw a lot of my online friends doing Project Life. I thought about it some more.


Then, last fall I hung out with my good friends Jamaica and Kristi. And we talked about scrapbooking. Like only true scrapbooking nerds can. I shared my frustrations about wanting to document my kids' lives. In a doable, realistic way. I needed a photo book and it had to tell the stories, use my favorite photos and still look cool. And my pal Jamaica looked at me and said, 'You should really just try Project Life, Jen.' She told me all about it. And so I went home, went through my hoard of scrap, printed some photos and and jumped back in.

So there you have it. Here I am. I'm a scrapbooker. And I'm on the Project Life Creative Team. I am stoked to be actually working on those baby books right now. And I look forward to sharing my progress/strategy here and on the Project Life blog very soon.

Maybe you've taken a break from scrapbooking too ... maybe we can do this together. xo.


KNITTING CLASSES /  by jen geigley



Knitting for Beginners/Knitting 101

February 3rd and 24th, 2014
(Class meets for two sessions.)

6:00 - 8:00 p.m. 

OR

March 11th and April 1st, 2014
(Class meets for two sessions.)

6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Urbandale Community Education
Urbandale High School
7111 Aurora Ave
Urbandale, IA

To sign up, click here.

__________________________________________________

Knitting for Beginners/Knitting 101

January 22nd and February 5th, 2014
(Class meets for two sessions.)

6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Waukee Community Education
Waukee South Middle School
2350 LA Grant Pkwy
Waukee, IA 50263 

To sign up, click here.

__________________________________________________


Knitting for Beginners/Knitting 101

February 6th and 13th, 2014
(Class meets for two sessions.)

6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Stitch
315 E 5th Street 
Des Moines, IA 50309 
515-288-0655 

To sign up, click here.

http://stitchdsm.com/

__________________________________________________

Rowan Studio 33 /  by jen geigley


Pop by Amanda Crawford

I just had to share images from Rowan's Studio 33: The Last Hurrah – the final collection of Rowan's Studio publications. While saying goodbye is sad (I'll really miss Studio!) they're really going out with a bang. Check out all of the spectacular designs and gorgeous photography for this rock-and-roll inspired collection. Using Kidsilk Haze, Anchor Artiste Metallic, Kidsilk Haze Eclipse, Angora Haze and Kidsilk Haze Glamour, this final group of patterns covers all knitting skill levels from beginner to experienced. Get ready to be inspired.


Blondie by Grace Melville



Daltrey by Gemma Atkinson

 

Hendrix by Gemma Atkinson



Jagger by Lisa Richardson



Jett by Lisa Richardson



Joplin by Lisa Richardson



Tyler by Martin Storey




Quattro by Sarah Hatton



Springsteen by Marie Wallin


One more thing! Through January 31st, Rowan is offering up a chance to win the yarn to knit a Rowan garment, a Rowan subscription and tickets to Stitchtopia! Pretty amazing. Rowan will be adding new competitions every month and they’re all FREE to enter. Click here to check it out.

Rainbow Loom Valentines (with free printable cards!) /  by jen geigley


I haven't done a D.I.Y. here in awhile, but today I have a super fun one to share. Lotus has been a Rainbow Loom bracelet machine lately. And if your kids are as obsessed as she is, I have the perfect Valentine project for you. To make V-Day a piece of cake this year, I've designed some colorful printable Valentine cards and you can download them for free!



Everyone loves getting a friendship bracelet, and Valentine's Day is the perfect time to share the love. Get your kids to whip up a Rainbow Loom bracelet for each of their friends. Then download and print these Valentines onto letter-sized card stock. Trim them to size and you're practically done! I used a paper punch to make half-circle notches on the sides of the card to help hold the bracelets in place, but you can skip this step if you want. I'm pretty confident the rubber bands would stay in place without the notches.


Easy and fun. Your kids will think these Valentines are cool and you won't have to buy a whole bag of candy. (Win!)


Download the cards here:

You're Cool - set of 4 printable Valentines

Friends Forever - set of 4 printable Valentines

These Valentines are for private use only. Please don't re-distribute. When showing them on your blog or website, please credit HeyJenRenee and link back to this post (not directly to the file downloads).

Enjoy!

Friends + Faves /  by jen geigley

FAQ /  by jen geigley

What do you blog about? 
I blog about all sorts of crafts, scrapbooking, knitting and the mom life. From time to time, I throw in some music that I like or concerts I've been to. (I'm passionate about music!) You'll also see posts here and there about Vespas, scooters, skateboarding and snowboarding. All little parts of our life.

Where can I find you online?
Twitter
Facebook
Ravelry
Instagram
Pinterest

Do you do freelance graphic design?
Yes. I design logos, corporate identity, print materials, publication design or custom invitations. Find samples of my design work here. 

Do you teach knitting classes?
Yes! I love teaching knitting to anyone and everyone who wants to learn. I teach adults and children ages 10 and up. I regularly teach at local schools and coffee shops, mostly in the fall and winter. (But if there's enough interest, I can absolutely teach in the summer as well.) For knitting class info, click here.

Where can I find your knitting patterns?
You can find all of my knitting patterns on Ravelry. (I hope to be adding more soon.)

Can I sell things made from your knitting patterns?
Knitting patterns are for personal use only, pretty please.

But ...

Can I use your patterns for charity?
Yes! You can sell/donate things you have made from my patterns for charity.

I have a question about your Gap-tastic cowl pattern. Where can I find answers?
You can most likely find your answer right here on the Ravelry Gap-tastic pattern page. There are nine pages of Q&As and I have answered most questions in-depth. If you have a question, odds are  someone else has asked, too! You can also search the 9,000+ completed Gap-tastic projects right here to see if someone else has used the yarn and/or needles you are using. That's a great way to get a preview of how your project will turn out. Check there first and if you still need answers, you can leave a comment on Ravelry or email me here.

I'm back. /  by jen geigley


Well, hello there readers from the past, present and future. I haven't posted here at HeyJenRenee in awhile. It's actually been almost a year. I moved on to a new blog which I haphazardly named makexdo. I thought it was a brilliant decision and was super excited for a fresh start.

Until I realized that no one could find me. What was I thinking? I had chosen a blog name/brand name that was hard to remember. Let alone say out loud. My papercrafting/scrapbooking friends all knew me as HeyJenRenee. My knitting and Ravelry friends all knew me as HeyJenRenee. My blog traffic was clearly all coming from HeyJenRenee.

Whoops.

So I've decided to come back. To continue blogging in this space I've kept since 2006. Luckily, I hadn't ditched this domain name. Yesterday, I snagged my old Twitter handle and switched back to my old Facebook page and updated all of the social media links everywhere I possibly could. The links to the right all work properly. The posts below are current. So we're good to go, people. Once I imported all of my 2013 posts from makexdo over to this blog, there was a sigh of relief. I am back home and it feels right.

So yes, that was dumb. I am sorry. And not to be a huge pain in the neck, but I would be so incredibly appreciative if you would add HeyJenRenee back into your blog reader. If it's not there already. I will keep makexdo up for another year or so, and everything I've written there has been brought over here. So you won't miss a thing. But pretty please follow me at HeyJenRenee from here on out. I promise I won't leave again.

Sorry for the confusion and THANK YOU for reading. You rule. xoxo.