Have you seen the new reality show on TLC called "Bikini or Bust"? It features swimwear designer Ashley Paige as she struggles to keep her business alive in spite of her complete lack of business sense.

Yes, this has something to do with knitting, since a couple years back Paige wrote a knitting and crochet book called Sexy Little Knits. She actually got her start in knit swimwear, and one of her designs was featured on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

You'd think after that kind of success that things would be easy, but Paige is always running out of money and just barely able to scrape by and do what she needs to do to keep her business running. The show is actually pretty fun, though I think she gives creative people a bad name by saying in the first episode something like "I'm a creative person so obviously I have no business sense." Plenty of us do just fine with both.

No matter. Her book is a fun one for summer and for knitters who dare to show a little (or a whole heck of a lot!) of skin. Check it out if you missed it the first time around.

Yeah, I know Christmas is a little more than six months away, but I can't resist celebrating almost Christmas in July by sharing a couple of holiday-inspired patterns this week.

This one is for dead-easy knti tinsel that's nothing more than a ginormously long I-cord knit with a flashy eyelash yarn. You could knit this in any color you like, really for any holiday you like (I could totally see this for a birthday celebration, or in black for a Halloween party). With the yarn I used you get a full 12 feet of tinsel from just one skein!

Are you thinking about holiday knitting yet? If so, I'd love to hear what you're working on!