Yesterday morning, we left snowy Maine on one of the first warm (40 degrees F) days of spring. Snow still covered almost all surfaces, and the snow was still knee deep in many drift-collecting spots. At least at our house, we had yet to see any grass, peeking flowers, or any other hopeful signs of spring. The chickadees had returned, and the sun was shining by day to melt the snow, but winter was still very much lingering.
Here are my kids playing out in the driveway just a couple days ago in snowy Maine. Note the piles of snow in the background!
At the end of a long day in the car, we arrived in New Jersey by the dark of night. Along the way, even southern Maine was mostly free from snow, but New Jersey is in full spring bloom! Green grass, daffodils, crocuses, irises, Siberian squill, cardinals, and chickadees abound, with no trace of snow.
During the drive, I was able to cast on for my new project, the PANEM Katniss Cowl Wrap by Dahlia in Bloom. Doesn’t the wee cast-on with the super bulky yarn look happy amidst the spring flowers!? I am loving this project so far, and looking forward to knitting in the warm sun!
The Night Quilter is a fairly new blog, documenting the crafting of a new, but hopefully blossoming, business. I’ve designed two paper piecing quilt block patterns so far, both of which are for sale in my Craftsy store.
Circling GullsFour pointed star
In designing these patterns, as well as in getting this blog going, I’ve been thinking that the Night Quilter really needs a logo. Every successful business has an image, or some consistent logo to help with customer recognition, continuity between patterns, the blog, a shop, etc. As an infant business, though, growing as a stay at home mom’s creative outlet and within a teeny budget, logo design options are pretty much limited to “make it yourself”.
Enter the blogging world of pattern designers. Recently I was reading a blog with tips for getting a pattern design business started, and for the life of me I can’t remember which blog! One word stood out to me in the article, though, about delegating tasks to be more successful: barter. I decided to reach out to a local friend who happens to be a co-creator of a quickly growing new local business, Linear. Linearis a full service creative studio offering web design, graphic design, commercial photography, video production, and social media management. They do amazing work! I asked about the rate for logo design and Andrea said that a logo normally costs around $500 (only about $450 more than my budget ;)), but she also said she would be open to work something out or even barter. There’s that b-word again!
“Do you knit?” Andrea asked the next day. Done and done.
I am going to knit a PANEM Katniss Cowl Wrap by Dahlia in Bloom (found on ravelry!) for Andrea in exchange for logo design for the Night Quilter!! I’m so excited, both for the barter and for my awesome new knitting project! This will be the coolest thing I’ve knit to date!
Andrea specified that she wants it to be soft and washable, so I decided to go with the same yarn used in the pattern: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick super bulky yarn in oatmeal. I couldn’t find enough of the yarn in local shops, so I ordered it online. It arrived yesterday afternoon, which is perfect timing since today we are driving down to New Jersey for a bit over a week, and I can’t bring my sewing machine!
I cast on today during our epically long 11 hour car trip from Maine to New Jersey (driving with a 4 year old and 22 month old adds a few hours to the trip), and I love the project already. Pictures to come!
Have you ever bartered for something awesome?
I grab a needle and thread once the kids are in bed
Night Quilter 