FO: Essential Cardigan

What started out as an easy summer vacation project is now finally finished. I took a long break from this project and finally picked it up again a couple weeks ago to finish it up. The pattern is Essential Cardigan from Interweave Knits Summer 2010. The yarn is Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool in Periwinkle Blue. This yarn has been sitting in my stash for many years and I thought this project would be the perfect use for it. I found lovely metal buttons on Textile Garden. The only modification I made was to make 4 buttonholes instead of 8. I bought the buttons before thinking up a project to use them for and only purchased 4!

FO: Nana's Shawl

Nana's shawl is now blocked and dried and I had a chance to take some nicer photos in the sunlight. It is a feather and fan shawl worked in three sections in a bulky weight wool yarn. Nana loves her hand knitted shawls and this one will be her Christmas present. I'm going to work up another one in a lighter weight yarn for myself, I'm thinking of Knitting Fever Whispers. Hopefully it will eventually turn into a new pattern for me. Stay tuned!

Cloudy Morning and Finished Objects

A few mornings ago, I came out to the kitchen to make coffee and found the nearby mountains covered with thick clouds. They came down almost to the base of the foothills where my apartment is, so I had to take a couple of pictures.

Over the past week I have finished working on several projects that are now just waiting to be washed. I finished spinning my purple mix of crock pot dyed wool, finished knitting the prototype for a new pattern which will also be a Christmas present for Nana, and finished weaving a bronson lace scarf. I have been a busy bee! Sorry for the lousy photos, it is late and quite dark in my living room at the moment. When everything is washed and dried, I promise to take better photos.

Pattern Update and Promotion

Cabled Heart Gloves is one of my first designs. These gloves are an everyday accessory for me in the winter months. They keep my hands warm and my fingers free to type while I'm at work. After a couple years of abuse, my original pair has become dingy and full of pills. I decided to make a new pair and printed off my pattern. Upon reading it, I decided it was time for a makeover. My designing over the last few years has led me on a long journey in which I have learned many new skills and read a lot of knitting books. In the updated pattern, I am adding an additional size, nicer photos and (hopefully) clearer instructions.

On Ravelry, Casey has just created promotional codes for designers to use in their pattern store. In honor of the new coupons, I have created one for this pattern. Receive $1 off when you purchase both the Cabled Heart Fingerless Gloves and Valentine Cables Hat patterns. Both feature cables with hearts and would create a nice set for a loved one. The coupon code is cabledheart, or just enter the code here. Coupon will be in effect from September 19-October 31.

Valentine Cables Hat now for sale

My Valentine Cables Hat, originally published in Knitscene Fall 2009, is now up for sale.

Valentine Cables Hat is a close fitting cabled hat worked from the bottom up. I wanted to create a hat with a unique cable pattern that is not too difficult for a knitter's first cable project. The brim is worked in K1 P1 rib and the body is worked in 4 sections of heart cables. The cabled sections are divided by lines of stockinette. Worked in a worsted weight yarn, this project is a quick knit that will keep you warm throughout the winter.

Vintage Weave It Loom

Ever since reading the article on the Weave It loom in the March/April 2010 issue of Piecework, I decided that I must have one. After reading the article I looked online and couldn't find one that I liked. A couple weeks ago I had the lucky opportunity to buy a vintage 1934 Weave It loom from the owner of eLoomaNation. It arrived in perfection condition with the original box and typed instructions. I decided to make a pillow to match my yellow sofa and green chairs. So far I have woven six squares, and I can't seem to stop!

Aster Vest Errata

I received an email today about the gauge for Aster Vest, so I got out my sample and re-checked it. The gauge should be 18 sts= 4", not 14 sts. So sorry for the error! The pattern pdf has been updated on Ravelry.

The Happy Accident or Dyeing is an Exact Science

Early last week an idea for a fiber colorway popped into my head. I was watching tv and suddenly a vision of periwinkle, lilac, coral and sage green appeared to me and I knew I had to dye it up. I finally had time to work on it yesterday and I realized that dyeing is a very exact science. I tried really hard to get the colors from my vision but they didn't turn out exactly right. Well, they didn't turn out right at all! But I still ended up with a pretty piece of fiber. The colors are much brighter than I envisioned, but they are still muted brights that aren't obnoxious or hard on the eyes. My dyeing mentor always tells me "A happy dyer is a dyer that is happy with what comes out the of dye pot." So this happy dyer is sharing a few photos of what came out of the dye pot, Parrot Paradise which is for sale in my etsy shop.

I mean it this time!

Ok, so I posted before that I had finally gotten my blog to link correctly to Ravelry but that was a big lie. After must frustration and several emails to the head honchos at Ravelry, I had to bite the bullet and just change my blog address. It wasn't nearly as painful to export the old blog and import it into the new blog as I thought it would be, so here I am finally with a blog that will actually show up on my friends list. Yay! To celebrate, here is a cute doggie picture.

Cairo Hat Pattern

Cairo Hat is a close fitting hat worked in a textured stitch pattern of moss stitch pyramids evoking the monumental pyramids of Egypt.  It is worked in the round from the bottom up with a brim of broken rib.  The stitch pattern is simple enough for a beginning knitter that is ready to try following a chart, but at the same time keeps the work interesting for an intermediate knitter.

Skills Needed:
knit
purl
k2tog
ssk

Materials Needed:
180-220 yards of worsted weight wool yarn

1 US 6 / 4mm 16" circular needle

1 set US 6/ 4mm double pointed needles

Vacation and Knitting

Last week I went on my annual family vacation to Lake Tahoe and had a great time. I always enjoy getting to spend a week with my family, smelling the pine trees and gazing out at the beautiful blue waters of the lake. I was especially excited to go this year because my fiance got to go with me for the first time and I got to spend some time with my two year old neice.

As usual, I took some knitting with me. I fell in love with the Essential Cardigan from the Summer 2010 issue of Interweave Knits, so I found some stash yarn that would work (Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool) and brought it along. I thought this would be a great vacation project because of all the mindless stockinette stitch, with the end product being a beatiful and classic cardigan that I could wear for years to come.

I was not smart and decided to wind up 1000 yards of yarn on my ball winder the night before I was leaving. I had quite a sore arm the next morning when we left at 6:00AM, but it certainly didn't prevent me from spending a big chunk of the car trip knitting.

During my trip, along with trout fishing, walks along the beach, and playing in the snow, I managed to visit a yarn store and a craft store and added to my already huge yarn stash. I first went to The Wool Tree and found a great selection of worsted weight wools, sock yarns, Noro yarns and a few mohair yarns that would make lovely lace shawls. I even saw a 100% cashmere yarn that I was very tempted to buy, but I resisted and stuck with some Louet Gems in a periwinkle blue, Cascade Heritage Paints in shades of green, Trendsetter Yarns Tonalita in blue/purple/pink, and Noro Kureyon in a bright rainbow shade.

Later in the week I went to Craft Market in Carson City. It is a small craft store hidden away in a corner that I would have never found if my dad hadn't seen their bright yellow truck with a big logo on the side parked by the roadway. They have a pretty good selection of yarns ranging from Cascade to Lion Brand to novelty yarns that I have never heard of. For the most part, the yarns are arranged by color so it is like walking through a fuzzy and soft fibery rainbow. I ended up buying Knitting Fever Whispers in an interesting colorway of grey/orange/sage green, Kertzer Ovation in a bright sunny yellow, and Lion Brand Amazing in fuschia/orange/yellow. I had never seen Amazing before, it is a variegated yarn with long color changes that would be perfect for entrelac.

After a few days without computer access I started to get a little antsy about checking my email.  I found that my dad had a Blackberry so he let me borrow it to use the internet.  Being in a somewhat remote and moutainous area, the connection was lousy and the only way I could get a signal was to stand outside waving my arm around over by the fence.  But I finally did get through, and it was much worth the effort (and even a few mosquito bites) to find an email from the editor of Knitscene.  I will have a pattern in the upcoming Winter/Spring 2011 issue!  Yay! 

All in all, it was a very relaxing week and I was sad to come home. I just love the Tahoe area, I still can't believe how blue the skies are up there. Some day I hope to be able to move away from the big city and live a bit closer to nature.

By the end of my trip I had finished the back of my Essential Cardigan and have now moved on to the fronts.  It is working up pretty fast, this might be the quickest sweater I've made. 

Aster Vest Pattern now for sale!

I am happy to announce that my Aster Vest pattern is now available for download.

Aster Vest is a lace vest with long fronts that come to a point and a shorter back. The back is worked from the center outwards in a large flower motif then continued straight for the upper back. The fronts are worked on the bias in a lace pattern and then worked straight from the chest up. A lace edge is knitted on after sewing the side seams. The armholes are finished with a band of garter stitch. The vest is worked in a bamboo/wool blend yarn that is very drapey and soft to create a fluid silhouette.

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Chest Circumference: 33 (37, 41, 45) inches
Length: 24 (26, 28.25, 30.75) inches

Skills needed:
Ability to read a chart
Working in the round
Basic knowledge of lace knitting

Aster Hat Pattern now for sale!

I am very happy to announce that my Aster Hat pattern is now up for sale!

Aster Hat is a slouchy style hat worked in a lace pattern. It is worked in the round from the center out in a large lace flower motif then into a smaller lace pattern for the body of the hat and finished with a rib brim. There are two versions, one for aran weight yarn and the other for sport weight yarn. The aran weight version has a more slouchy fit than the sport weight version.

Skills needed:
Ability to read a chart
Working in the round
Basic knowledge of lace knitting

Yarn:
Sport Weight version: 180 yds of sport weight yarn
Aran Weight Version: 150 yds of aran weight yarn

Needles:
Sport Weight Version: US 3/3.25 mm circular needle
US 4/3.5 mm circular needle and set of double pointed needles
US 7/4.5 mm circular needle
US 8/5.0 mm circular needle and set of double pointed needles

Hand Dyed Rovings

At the Studio 66 Retreat I got hooked on crock pot dyeing. I just love playing with vibrant colors and dyeing in the crock pot isn't too much of a mess to clean up. I stared dyeing more fiber than I could ever possibly spin in my lifetime, so I decided to sell it in my Etsy shop and share my love of mixing colors with the world. All rovings and yarns can be found here.

Basic Entrelac Tutorial

Next weekend I will be demonstrating Entrelac knitting at the Studio 66 Retreat in Forest Falls, CA. I decided to create a basic tutorial for students to take home with them and will share it also with the wide knitting world. Happy Knitting!

download now

Help For Haiti

After the devastating earthquake in Haiti, I decided to take part in the Help For Haiti cause on Ravelry. I am donating half of my proceeds from January pattern sales to Doctors Without Borders. I am happy to be sending off my check tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who purchased a pattern to help out with this cause!!

Knitscene Winter/Spring 2010 preview is up!

The preview for Knitscene Winter/Spring 2010 is up here! This issue is filled with so many great patterns I can't decide which I will cast on first!

My pattern is the Loretto Vest, is a yoked vest that emphasizes simple stitch textures. The hem, armhole bands and button bands are worked in 2x2 rib, the collar is worked in double moss stitch, and the body is worked in stockinette and reverse stockinette stitch. The slanted yokes are outlined by a 2 stitch cable. The vest is worked in one piece until the armholes then the fronts and back are worked separately. A faux side seam is created by a column of purl stitches, with the waist shaping on either side. Wood buttons are the perfect accent for this mustard colored vest.

New Pattern: Argyle Cabled Beret

A slouchy beret worked in a cabled argyle pattern on a background of reverse stockinette stitch. Worked in a worsted-weight heathered yarn, this hat will be a classic staple in your winter wardrobe.

Skills needed:
Working in the round
Ability to read a chart
Basic knowledge of cables
pfb (purl into the front and back of the stitch)
p2tog
ssp

Needles: US 7/4.5mm DPN and 16" circular

Yarn: 150-200 yards of worsted weight wool or wool blend

Oops!

Wow, I just realized (after two years!) that my blog posts weren't linked up on my Ravelry profile. I guess sometimes it takes me awhile to find a problem!

To make up for lost time, here is a picture of my recent FO, a simple hat made with my lumpy bumpy handspun Merino. My doggie gave it an A+.

Twisted Tank Pattern- Now for Sale!

My Twisted Tank knitting pattern is now up for sale, here at Eat.Sleep.Knit.

Twisted Tank is a form fitting tank top with a v-neck and mandarin collar. The stitch pattern of long cables is worked with twisted stitches, no cable needle is required! The knitted fabric is very stretchy, so the tank is meant to be worn with 5-7” of negative ease. The armholes, collar, placket, and bottom band are worked in a twisted rib pattern in a contrasting color. The tank will be worked in the round until the armholes, then worked flat for the front and back.