Feature Friday: knits by Rachel!

Hey everybody! It's feature Friday! I found Rachel for you via twitter! She had a dishlcoth knit along I could not say  no to! :) She is also a really sweet and caring person to talk to on twitter! Go check her out:

Okay, where to begin? I'm Rachel. I'm a 30 something simple, plain Jane girl living in the country with my Hubby and our 2 Kiddos, ages 10 and 12.

I like my quiet country life. I love my home. I loath having to go into town...I don't care for the hustle and bustle, the crazy drivers and the crazy shoppers. I would much rather be home casually puttering around the yard in the nice weather or knitting by the warm fire in the cold weather. I'm very fortunate to be able to stay home, thanks to my very supportive and understanding Hubby. I really enjoyed staying home with the kids when they were little and now that they are older, it gives me more time to do the things I love to do like knitting and designing. I enjoy knitting and designing items for the kitchen and home...things that can be considered cute AND useful such as picture dishcloths, placemats and hanging towels.

I often get asked where I get my design ideas and inspiration from. I can tell you that I seem to find inspiration and ideas in the strangest places sometimes...I find myself always looking at everything, everywhere we go, trying to figure out ways to incorporate some of the interesting things I see into a pattern.



I started dabbling in designing knitted dishcloths a little over 3 years ago and realized quickly just how much fun and addicting it was! Shortly after that, a wonderful gal that I met online offered to pay me to design a Rocking Horse dishcloth for her and that's pretty much how I got Knits by Rachel started selling patterns online...all from one little request.

One of the most rewarding patterns I worked on was ironically one of the simplest. It's actually quite a touching story. I was approached by a woman, Margaret, from my online knitting group. Her husband Bruce had been diagnosed with cancer and she knew that he wouldn't be with her much longer due to the severity of his condition. She wanted to send me a picture of his hand that she had traced onto a piece of paper. She asked if I could design a square with his hand so that she would be able to feel his hand when he wasn't with her anymore. I don't usually take personal requests for patterns but in my heart I knew I couldn't turn this one down. I was honored to be the one to do that for her. They were highschool sweethearts. They were married for 32 years with 2 grown daughters. They were each other's everything. Sadly, several months after designing the pattern for Bruce's hand, Margaret emailed me to tell me that Bruce had passed away. She hadn't had the chance to finish knitting the pattern and she was having such a rough time coping with the loss. She asked if I knew someone who could knit 3 squares up for her and her daughters as she knew it would be just too painful for her to knit herself. Without hesitation, I offered to knit them up for her and her family. She was so touched and so appreciative after receiving them. Now whenever her and her daughters need to be close to Bruce they will always have his hand close by to hold onto for as long as they need.

Currently I am working on "The Calendar of Hope" as the photographer, as well as one of the designers. The calendar of hope is a calendar filled with beautiful kitchen and home related knitting patterns that Cindy Moore started after going through her own battle with Breast Cancer. She has organized numerous designers to contribute a design of their choice for the calendar. All proceeds from the calendar are donated to breast cancer research. It's a wonderful cause and a gorgeous calendar. This will be the 3rd one we are working on. If you are a reader of my blog or follow me on twitter, I'll be sure to update when and where the 2011 calendar will be available

I also run an online knitting group with my good friend Marilyn Wallace. We do 1 mystery dishcloth knit along starting on the 3rd Monday of each month which is always a lot of fun! We're a real friendly bunch of knitters and crocheters. I am very fortunate to have so many wonderful members among us, I have made some great friends through the group! Gotta love the internet for things like that!
Besides knitting I do also love to crochet. I adore all the dainty thread patterns out there, some of them are just gorgeous! My only wish is that I had more time in a day to do all these things that I'd love to do! I would absolutely love to learn to sew (properly). I did some sewing in my teen years but I think it's something that I'd really enjoy doing more now as a Mom. I see so many people sewing the cutest things for their kids and I wish I could do it too! Hopefully one of these days!
I enjoy spending time in the kitchen cooking for my family. I love food... love to make it, love to eat it, love to see people eat...It makes me happy! I'm one of those cooks that always cooks way too much food. No matter what size the pot, I always think I need to fill it right up to the top! You'd almost think I had 10 kids and 3 husbands to feed! ...it's a problem!

When I'm not in the house I can usually be found somewhere outside with my camera! That's actually my favourite thing to do. I'm not a professional photographer by no means but I just really enjoy taking pictures. There's something about taking snapshots of the outside world through your eyes, the way you see it. My favs are bugs and flowers! I swear, I could sit in a field of flowers for hours!

Some random and useless personal info about me:

- I believe everything happens for a reason.

- I'm terribly superstitious.
- I hate change.
- I love routine and structure.
- My mother taught me to knit when I was 6.
- I'm afraid of heights.
- I graduated highschool but didn't finish college.
- As a little girl I wanted to be a veterinarian.
- After working at a local daycare in my teens, I decided that I wanted to work with kids so I took Early Childhood Education in College.
- After leaving College early, I decided what I actually really wanted to be was a mom and housewife.
- Clearly, I'm not good at making decisions and sticking to them!
- I am a HUGE procrastinator! Trouble is, I married one too! Hubs says we put the "pro" in procrastinators!
- Hubs and I got married at the Mall of America in the Chapel of Love!
- I love to be different.
- I hate to be wrong.
- I tend to do things the hard way.
- I didn't get my driver's license till I was in my twenties.

- I failed my written driving test the first time.
- I failed my first stage road test the first time.
- I failed my second stage road test the first time.
- I don't like tests!
- My first car was born the same year as me... a 1976 Buick Skylark!
- One of my most embarrassing moments was in grade 10 history class...not realizing that my blue pen had exploded ink all over the side of my mouth while chewing on the end of it...a habit that was quickly broken after that horribly embarrassing experience...I think my best friend at the time turned 40 different shades of purple from laughing so hard at me!
- One of my favourite Christmas memories was when my little fella was born on Christmas Eve and the whole family brought Christmas up to the hospital so I could be a part of it too!
- I HATE, and I mean H-A-T-E, hate FEET!
- I'm afraid of thunder and lightning.
- I taught both my kids how to knit and crochet when they were 8.
- One of my favourite teachers in grade school was actually the meanest teacher at our school...underneath her rough and tough exterior was a woman with a huge heart and a ton of patience for me. I loved her!
- I used to have a lot of patience, then I got married and had kids...now I just get grey hair!
- I'm a big hugger! Love getting and giving hugs! Doesn't matter if I just met you, I'll probably end up giving you a great big hug just because!
- I cry while watching tv shows, movies and yes, even commercials! I'm such a sap!
- I played the flute for 5 years and the piccolo for 1.
- I enjoy watching Nascar with the family on the weekends...I root for Carl...I like backflips!
- I'd be lost without tv, computer and internet!
- I love to do jigsaw puzzles with my kids.
- I clean when I'm mad.
- I don't get mad enough!
- I love fire! Not in a weird pyromaniac way, but I just love sitting around a good old fashioned bon fire with friends and family! I love the smell, I love the sound, it just makes me happy!
- I could literally live on pasta and tomatoes!
- I like to make lists!
- I've been known to talk too much!

Anytoot, that's me in a nutshell! Hope I didn't bore you all to tears! I'd really like to thank Bridgett for allowing me the opportunity to be a part of her Friday Features! What an awesome way to find out more about our fellow creative online peeps! Can't wait to see who she has on next!
Take care and thanks so much again!
Warm Hugs,
Rachel
Where you can find me:

Knits by Rachel:
http://www.knitsbyrachel.com/
Follow Me on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/KnitsByRachel

Rachel’s Knitting Corner:
http://rachelsknittingcorner.blogspot.com/

Ravelry(KnitsByRachel):
http://www.ravelry.com/people/KnitsByRachel

 Didn't I tell you she is an awesome knitter AND a lot of fun? She is one of my fave twitter peeps! :)

Thank you Rachel for being my feature Friday guest! I had a blast getting to know you better this way! You Rock! :)