How big is that bag? I get asked this question a lot. It's so hard to figure out size when shopping online. I've added a comparison picture of each bag on all the product pages. Hopefully this will help you decide which bag is right for your needs.

New pattern! The first of my self-published patterns became available today. This one is called Annie. It's a sweet little tank worked in a vine stitch pattern with a square neck. The neckline is my favorite part. It looks really cute worn with a belt at the waist. I'll get some fashion shots taken soon. The pattern is only available from JordanaPaige.com as a pdf, so you can start knitting immediately.

You may notice things look a bit different around here. Last night our new site went live. It was time bring the shopping cart into 2008. There's lots of nice features to make the shopping experience easier and more will be coming. This is just Phase 1. I wanted to get the site up so that the new pattern could be purchased.
<----------- See that link over there "Explore JP". That's where all the fun stuff will be going when Phase 2 is complete.

I love seeing people's cleverness in the way they use the internet, especially when it's crafty. I recently came across two sites I thought you would probably find as fabulous as I do.

Ponoko is like having your own little factory for making everything from jewelry to furniture. Basically, you create the template, select the material (plastic, wood, etc) and they cut out the pieces. They mail you the pieces and you assemble your design. I haven't tried it yet. It seems there are so many possibilities that my brain is in shock, not knowing where to start.

The other site is Spoonflower. They print your artwork on fabric. I know, amazing, right?! It's still in beta so you have to sign up to get an invite. I signed up about two weeks ago and got my invite today. It probably takes a couple tries to get colors and repeats right, but I'll definitely be experimenting with this one.

Looks like I will have my pattern ready by next week. Today I started on the layout, but didn't get very far because I couldn't decide if I should make it colorful all over, or only use color for the photos. Then I started to come up with a bunch more questions. I know the layout I like when reading a pattern, but that doesn't mean everyone is the same. So, I thought I'd ask you. Keep in mind that the pattern will be available as a pdf download, so the customer will be printing it herself. Here are some things I'd love to hear your thoughts on regarding pattern layout:

Do you like a lot of color, or only color used on the photos?
Do you want one of the pages to have a 8.5 x 11 photo of the garment? Or, how large do you like?
Do you like the instructions written in columns?
Is there specific information that you want on the first page of the pattern for when you store it in your pattern binder?
What other layout specifications do you like or not like?

You can post your comments here, or hop over to Ravelry where I started a thread in the Jordana Paige forum. Thanks!

The new dress form arrived last Friday. She is quite fantastic. Thank you for all the name suggestions. I was originally leaning toward Laura's idea for Violet because her comment was rather clever, but when I unpackaged the gal she said to me, "Hi, I'm Kate." So Kate it is.

I can now get the first design photographed. The pattern has been edited, I just need to do the layout and plunk in some photos. My target date for release is July 15th, but it completely depends on if I will have my website ready. I needed to install a new shopping cart on the website because the current one can't do pdf downloads. Since I was installing a new cart I thought I might as well give the whole site a makeover. It's coming along well and has some new features to make shopping easier. It's what I call Phase 1, just so I can get the new pattern up. Phase 2 will add some additional features to make the site interactive and fun. More on that later.