If you've ever tried to take a picture of a knitted hat, you know how tricky it is to get them to stand up. The solution is some kind of display prop, but if you don't have one, or you do have one but it's covered in hats, I figured out this trick. Takes about 2 minutes to slap this thing together.

Here's a little sneak peek of two of the new notebook covers..

Did you get a chance to vote in the Sassy vs Chocolate election? I thought it was going to be Sassy, but in the end Chocolate won by quite a bit. But don't worry, if you like red, I kept you in mind.

Well, Chocolate Cake is well ahead of Sassy. But red is so fun, I'm playing around with it. These tiles are the same ones I used in the Prima notebook covers. In Adobe Illustrator, you can make a color group with your palette, then use the Live Color tool to reassign colors from within the palette. I love how much the motif changes with simple color changes. 

A glimpse into my personal time management system. 

Disclaimer: please consult a medical professional before adopting this time management system.

A few little news items today. Did you know you can now get Tricksy Knitter graph paper notebooks at Knit Picks? Which is awesome if you're shopping from a US address, because Knit Picks has free shipping on orders over $50. And let's face it, it's not hard to spend $50 at Knit Picks. 

And the notebooks have been getting a little editorial attention too. I just received a copy of Vogue Knitting Early Fall 2012, and the noteboooks are in the What's New section. And, they were also in KnitScene Accessories and Your Knitting Life! Hurrah for notebooks!

And although the notebooks are trying to hog the attention, I have to send a shout-out to Courtenay's own James Emslie of Uptown Yarns: his shawlette pattern is in Vogue Early Fall! Go James!

It must be spring, because there's a lot of spring cleaning going on. And by cleaning I mean that all storage shelves and totes have been emptied out on the floor, sorted half-heartedly into piles, and then ignored. Time for another coffee and a game of Monopoly.

But as much as I don't enjoy trying to figure out how to stack ski boots—this cannot be done—I do love going through my stash. My swatch pile though, was Out Of Control. (See the Before picture at the end of this post). So I decided to MarthaStewart it—yes, that is a verb—and tag the more important swatches. I'm diligent about making tension swatches and testing stitch patterns, but then I forget important details, like what size needles did I use, what yarn is this anyway? 

 Something for the outrageous knitter. Or the knitter's outrageous friend. The Udderly Devine Bag by Lucy Neatby. I'm a little speechless. Well, moo.

This post is all about buttons, buttons, buttons. Every finished knitting that cardigan with your favourite yarn, and then, because you really wanted to wear it right away, used kind of mediocre buttons to finish? 

Well, kill 2 birds with one stone (that sounds violent), how about, help 2 birds with one purchase? Or if you don't need buttons, I'll bet there's someone on your gift list who does.

Anyways, check out some of these great button ideas from etsy sellers:

Packs of assorted new and vintage buttons from Nutmeg Bunny. 

Handmade novelty buttons by Buttons by Robin. Buttons like these penguins could change the way I knit. Instead of starting with yarn, I'll start with the buttons.

Amazing polymer buttons from Espresso Italiano. 

 Sigh, another thing to covet. Stitch markers and row counters for knitters and crocheters from Velvet Hippo. Sure, you can make stitch markers out of little scraps of yarn. Nothing wrong with that. We've all done it. But doesn't your knitting deserve a little dazzle?