celebrating mothers

...with 15% off my patterns! Until Monday the 13th at midnight PDT, take 15 % off with coupon code: yomama2013 at checkout.

Happy Mother's Day!

Cyber Monday starts now!

From 12 am EST to midnight PST (yep! three extra hours!) on Monday November 29, Designs by Romi patterns, including my 7 Small Shawls eBook subscription, are 15% off! Enjoy!!!

eta: The discount is applied in your shopping cart.

Merope + a sale!

7 Small Shawls: T - 214 days and counting down.

Today, I released Merope, the first pattern from 7 Small Shawls to Knit!

To celebrate, I'm having a sale on shawl pins on my Designs by Romi site! Through June 6th, enter MEROPE at checkout and receive 15% off on your order of $15 or more (patterns excluded)!

I will now vegetate. So. Tired. Carry on. :)

@MOMA & @Romi's

The other day I was listening to NPR and caught some interesting news. MOMA has "acquired" the @ sign into its design collection. In a nutshell, MOMA has honored the humble @ sign for its history, usage and design. Did you know it's been around for centuries? Neither did I! Read about it here. It's fascinating to read how the @ sign was used before becoming a symbol of the internet age.

In honor of MOMA's acquisition, I've designed two @ sign shawl pins, (because I couldn't decide whether it should be a penannular or have a separate stick)! And you know what a new product means, right? A sneaky sale. :) Details at the end of my post!

The cool thing about the @ sign of course, is that even without the meaning, it has a beautiful and clean line to it.

The camera loves it.

And I had so much fun shooting it!

I couldn't decide which pictures to use.

So I ended up choosing quite a few.

Here's the version with separate stick.

I wore it to knitting the other day and a graphic designer friend loved it, even though he doesn't knit. You can buy your own here or here. They come in copper, nickel, brushed nickel (only the penannular - my favorite) and sterling silver. If you don't see it right away, shift refresh your browser and it will pop up.

And the sale? Through April 16th, take 15% off your purchase of $15 or more when you enter the code TAXTIME at checkout! Patterns not included.

Tune back in very soon to hear some cool news about a new project. I'm excited!

Valentine's Day round-up

Happy V Day, everyone! Don't forget my sale. :)

I have sort of a thing for hearts. Which is kind of odd, since I've never been very girly in other ways. This heart is a painting from my days as an illustrator.

I haven't had time to paint for a long long time and I miss it. There's something about the paint and dirty hands that really appeals to me! :)

Yesterday, I got to spend time with my knit group (yay - no swim meet!), and almost everyone was knitting Brandywine. My group has been so amazing and supportive; between them, they bought over 20 patterns! Here are a few of us.

It's difficult to see, but there are several Brandywines on the table in different stages of completion. Overall, I've sold almost 500 patterns, and sent off $2,000 to Doctors Without Borders. When I hit 500 sales, another $500 will go to them! Brandywine is currently number 8 in the new and popular patterns on Ravelry.



Thank you all so much for your help. Knitters are the best!

I knit almost all day yesterday, which is unusual for me since I get really fidgety sitting still. This year, I'm participating in the Knitting Olympics, but I'm not really sure why I signed up since my Olympic project is a secret. Duh! That will make for some scintillating blog posts, no? But I absolutely have to get this project finished by the time I head off for Stitches West, and I'm hoping this will give me the needed push. The challenge will be getting all the shawl pins for Stitches made and the knitting finished in time. I'm kinda freaking out about it, actually. I'm taking lots of deep breaths. And still freaking. Off to knit some more!

Valentine's Sale

To celebrate Valentine's Day, Designs by Romi is having a sale!!! Through Tuesday, February 16, take 20% off your full order over $10 by entering coupon code BEMINE at checkout (patterns excluded). I have lots to tempt you, including hearts

and yarn ball earrings!

So please stop by and take advantage! :)

In other news, sales of my Brandywine Shawl pattern are great, thanks to all of you wonderful knitters out there! After releasing the pattern last Saturday night, I have been able to donate $2,000 to Doctors without Borders ($5 per pattern) and am halfway to another $500!

It's also number 8 on the Ravelry new and popular pattern list, and all because of you! Thank you all so very much for all of your purchases and kind notes to me. Knitters are the best. :)

Sneaky sneaky

Well, I know I am totally late getting up a weekly special and give-away for last week, but I hope you will forgive me! Instead, I am introducing a new pin and...a Designs by Romi Sneaky Sale lasting through next Monday!!!

I am SO loving this new pin.

It's loosely based on a penannular style, but locks into place a little differently. First you gather up material:

then the stick portion goes over the top of the pin portion:

and down around the swirl to lock into place.

Cool, eh?! :) It's available here in nickel, brushed nickel, copper and sterling silver!

And to celebrate, I'm having a Sneaky Sale over at Designs by Romi: 15% off a $15 or greater purchase (patterns excepted) through Monday, September 14th! Enter CELTIC at checkout!

And the give-away? Retweet (mentioning this blog post and @RomiDesigns), blog about or plurk about this sale with appropriate link to my post here, and be entered to win a nickel or copper pin as shown above! I will choose a winner on Tuesday, September 15th. However many times you mention this sale (and tell me about it), that is the number of entries you will have in the drawing! Receive double the entries for each pin you buy. (Does that make sense?) Buy a pin? Receive two entries! Buy two pins? Receive four entries! Good luck to you! :)

Oops!

I messed up. The dates on my sale were incorrect on my website, so I have extended the sale through this Wednesday August 26th! The coupon code has changed to DOGDAYS1 (don't forget to add that 1), because the other one expired. Too early. Oops. But good for you, right? :)

Come on over! :D

In other news, Doc Steph has won my last give-away! She is the randomly generated new owner of my five lacy patterns: Bluebird, Love Squared, Verdigris Socks, Queen Wil, and Dynamique. Congratulations, Steph!!! And thank you to everyone who entered!

Woof!!! Don't Forget!

Last weekend of my Dog Days of Summer Sale on all shawl pins in stock! Here's a cat to tempt the dogs.

And a couple of sheep for the dogs to herd. A ram:

and a ewe! :)

Don't forget! The sale goes through this weekend. 15% off $15 or more on all shawl pins in stock at Designs by Romi. Enter DOGDAYS at checkout!

Dog Days go on

In honor of my Dog Days of Summer Sale...

A Scottie dog!

Don't forget! The sale goes through this weekend. 15% off $15 or more on all shawl pins in stock at Designs by Romi. Enter DOGDAYS at checkout!

Time Out

...for a little yarn play. I have a bunch of Royale Hare high twist sock yarn to photograph for her website. Just look at these colors!

Are they not drool-worthy?

In other news, Stealth Knitting continues. Secret Projects #1 and #2 were packed up and sent off and I am now working on Secret Project #3. Next up? Secret Projects #4 and #5, which are, thankfully, smaller!

And my sale goes on!! Most popular so far are my swirl kilt pin

my swirl penannular

my silver eternity pin

and my prong pin!

Remember to enter DOGDAYS at checkout to receive 15% off your purchase of $15 or more through August 23rd!

Dog Days of Summer SALE

Can you believe the summer is almost over?!?! What happenend?! Kids are headed back to school, there's fall in the air, crush is beginning here in wine country, and we're headed into autumn, my favorite time of year.

That means it's time for my Dog Days of Summer Sale at Designs by Romi! Everything that's in stock, with the exception of patterns, is 15% off a purchase of $15 or more through Sunday, August 23rd. It's a great time to stock up on pins for the holidays, especially since I get so incredibly busy through the end of the year that I have no time to come up with new pin designs. And no new pin designs = no sneaky sales! Well, it's possible there might be one more, but you never do know with those sneaky sales! ;)

To receive your 15% discount, enter code DOGDAYS at checkout. (Hmmmmm, it's only fair that I have a cat days sale some time, isn't it? But when????)

And the give-away? Retweet (mentioning this blog post and @RomiDesigns), blog about or plurk about this sale with appropriate link to my post here, and be entered to win a set of five lacy patterns, including Bluebird, Love Squared, Verdigris Socks, Queen Wil Socks and Dynamique Socks! I will choose a winner on Monday, August 24th. However many times you mention this sale (and tell me about it), that is the number of entries you will have in the drawing! Receive double the entries for each pin you buy. (Does that make sense?) Buy a pin? Receive two entries! Buy two pins? Receive four entries! Good luck to you! May the best fiberholic win. :)

Nooooz!

As in: more than one new thing. :) I thought it was about time that I had more than one sheep, don't you think? So I got busy with a ewe for my little ram. And here's what happened!

Isn't she cute?

Then in a burst of genius(?) craziness(?) sleep-deprived euphoria(?) ummmmmm, well, you'll see. I figured that if we would have one from the front, then there should really be...the south end of a northbound sheep! Hee.

Have I completely lost my mind? Perhaps. But how cute are those little sheepy pajamas? And it's your little secret, because no one but a true fiber fanatic will ever guess. :) Imagine wearing it to a business meeting. You can laugh at your own private joke. Am I right? You know I am!!

And a beauty shot, just because.

Okay, after this one I'll stop.

To celebrate the new members of my flock, I'm having a 15% off Sneaky Sale at Designs by Romi! Just enter coupon code SHEEPY at checkout and receive 15% off your order of $15 or more (patterns excluded)! The sale lasts through next Wednesday, July 29th.

And the give-away? Retweet (mentioning this blog post and @RomiDesigns), blog about or plurk about this sale with appropriate link to my post here, and be entered to win a pair of nickel sheep, one front and one back! I will choose a winner next Tuesday, July 28th. Let the games begin! Or something.

...and the winner is

ME! Oh, wait. That comes later. :)

According the random number generator, Jessica Rose-Kim has won my contest! She gets to select a nickel shawl pin of her choice from my site and off it goes to her! Thank you all so much for entering! I'm having so much fun with these little contests that I'm going to keep having them. So if you didn't win this time, please keep entering!

btw, the Sneaky Sale is still on through tomorrow. That's 15% off an order of $15 or more at Designs by Romi. Enter coupon code NEWNICKEL at checkout. Patterns are excluded from the sale.

Speaking of contests, my friend Lisa Shobhana Mason had one in honor of her new pattern release, Kimberly, and I won a collection of her patterns! I love the clean lines of Kimberly. Did you know Scout photographed it? Scout and Lisa rock. :) Thank you, Lisa!

In other news, a pattern of mine is in the summer issue of Living Crafts magazine. Knit of Habu merino/stainless steel and beads, it is similar to the scarf necklaces in my book.

This yarn is so much fun to knit and crochet! I'll be talking more about that later on this week!

Shhhhhhh...Sneaky Sale

Well, my nickel bluebird was so popular

that I've now put nickel up as an option for all of my Designs by Romi Elements Collection! Compared with sterling, nickel, also called German silver, is a harder metal and the color is a bit warmer. It also doesn't tarnish like sterling!

To celebrate all the new nickel, I'm having a site-wide Sneaky Sale (patterns excluded)!

So, through next Wednesday, July 8, take 15% off your purchase of $15 or more when you enter coupon code NEWNICKEL at checkout! Enjoy! :)

Tweet about this sale with @RomiDesigns in your tweet and be entered to win your choice of nickel shawl pin from Designs by Romi! Or link to my sale from your blog, let me know and be entered to win! Or hey! Do both and get two entries! :) I'll announce the winner Tuesday!

Weekly Special!

Time for my Designs by Romi weekly (weekend) special! Through Sunday, June 22, take 20% off my copper treble clef clip! Just enter coupon code MUSIC at checkout.

I love these clips. They are perfect for a heavier shawl (sock yarn or heavier) or a nice cardigan. I've even worn mine on laceweight, as well.

In this picture, you can see the corrugated back of the pin. The rib helps it to stay put!

In other news, I'm doing the charts for my newest sock, and I've started on another pattern.

This one is in Flaming June, a new colorway from Royale Hare! (The first commenter that tells me the origin of the colorway name gets a prize!)

I know I've been a bad blogger this week. Things have been crazy; I've been working on wholesale pin orders, knitting up swatches for a secret project, working on a website and dealing with all of those little day to day issues that suck up so much time! I haven't even gotten up my pictures from Spinners Day on the Farm last weekend. I'll try to do that this weekend if the swim meet allows! We'll be leaving at 6:30 am both days and getting back in the late afternoon.

New! + 15% Off Sneaky Sale

This past weekend, I went sailing in San Francisco Bay with friends and family. When we got through the Golden Gate, all of a sudden there were harbor porpoises all around us! Even though I forgot my camera (I know! It always happens!), I was reminded that I've been meaning to release my dolphin pin ever since someone special-ordered it! So here it is...

It's a two piece pin and is shown here in sterling. It's up on my site here. And you know what this means, right? Sneaky Sale!!! Through Friday, June 19th, take 15% off a $15 or more order when you enter DOLPHIN at checkout!

Blush

First blush, that is. :) It's a new color of Designs by Romi yarn from Royale Hare.

Isn't it gorgeous? And look what I've done with it.

Just a small sample of what's to come next week!

I can't believe how much fun I've been having with the lacy sock designs. Like Mel said, there's no one as fanatical as the recently converted! ;)

I've also decided to have a weekly special (each week!) on a single selected pin from Designs by Romi. So every Friday check here to see the weekend special! This week, it's my copper swirl penannular:

20% off through this Sunday, as many of them as you want, with coupon code COPPERY at checkout.

Hope you're having a great Friday! Have a fabulous weekend. :)

New! + 15% Off Sneaky Sale

I know - what's gotten into me?! Three posts in two days! :)

I have a couple of new Designs by Romi pins to share with you! And you know what that means, right? Shhhhh, be vewy quiet (a Sneaky Sale).

The two new pins are clips, in the style of the treble clef clip. I am loving this style, because it works to clip woven cloth scarves as well, even finely woven ones. Here we have a heart and a swirl.

I couldn't resist a beauty shot

or two. :)

Here's how it looks in use. It works great as a sweater closure or a shawl/scarf pin. And for those of you who tend to lose a piece of your pin? Never again!

Swirly beauty shot...

Here you can see the back. It's the corrugation that keeps it in place. It really stays put!

And in use:

These are all available in copper, sterling and nickel! To celebrate, take 15% off your purchase of $15 or more! Enter CLIP at checkout. Good through Saturday, June 6, so you have plenty of shopping time! Get yours here!