Giftalong 2020 has just begun!

 

What is Giftalong 2020?

Now in its eighth year, the Indie Designer Giftalong is a celebration of independent knit and crochet designers combined with a massive make-along to encourage knitters and crocheters to have fun together while they get their holiday gift crafting done. The event mainly happens on Ravelry, but this year more will be happening on Instagram to support those who cannot use Ravelry safely.

Here is a link to the Indie Design Giftalong Group on Ravelry where you can find details on the kick-off pattern sale, view the tremendous list of participating designers, and learn how to join in on the make-alongs. Fun games, friendly chatter, and prizes galore to encourage you through your 2020 gift making right through the end of the year!

Here is the link to the Instagram Giftalong Account where you can find details on how to participate if you are not on Ravelry.

I have been a participating designer in the Giftalong for eight years in a row. This year I am offering 18 patterns which I sell on Ravelry with a 25% discount using the code giftalong2020 through November 30, 11:59 EST.

Please know that there are hundreds of designers offering thousands of patterns with the same discount code, and that you can participate in the make-alongs after the sale (through the end of the year) using any of the participating designers (not for free) patterns.

Happy Giftalong2020!!!

Contorta

Hello there!

2020 has been the worst. 

I am still here (in my own quiet way) just being me.

I do hope that you have been spared the worst and you are also able to just be you.

I did not yet post to my blog about Contorta...

I love this top over (over the top) photo.

Beautiful depth.

This was my "pine tree story" which was one of 11 "modern, minimalist" patterns featured in Issue 2 of Making Stories Magazine. The magazine was released in October 2019. I now have the rights to the design.  

 

This pattern will be one of 18 that will be offered in my Ravelry store at a 25% discount from Nov 24 to Nov 30 2020.

Thank you for reading and sorry it has been a while......... 

 

New Design: SIDEREAL CHECK COWL

I have released my new stranded colorwork design, SIDEREAL CHECK COWL as promised. It is a companion piece to my recently released SIDEREAL CHECK HAT.  The pattern is available on Ravelry with a 25% introductory discount through midnight (EST) December 16.

As I mentioned in my last post, I was very fortunate to have my designs selected for yarn support by The Fibre Co as part of Autumn/Winter Yarn Support Programme. Their gorgeous, Arranmore Light is a new favorite of mine. It blends cashmere and silk with merino wool to create an autentic tweed yarn of the highest quality.

The reversible cowl, with one side in stranded colorwork and the other in a two-row stripe, has picot edgings. It begins with a provisional cast on and ends with three-needle bind off.

Finished Measurements 
33” 84 cm circumference and 9½” 24 cm height

Yarn
DK weight yarn 
348 yd 318 m Main Color (MC)
180 yd 165 m Contrast Color (CC)

Note: If making both hat & cowl with Arranmore Light, two skeins of the main color and one of the contrast color will be more than enough.

Thanks for reading!

xoxox

New Design: SIDEREAL CHECK HAT

I am happy to finally introduce my new stranded colorwork hat pattern in two sizes, SIDEREAL CHECK HAT. This pattern is available on Ravelry with a 25% introductory discount through midnight (EST) December 2.

Earlier this year, I was thrilled to learn that I had been selected for The Fibre Co’s Yarn Support Programme AW 18/19. Their Arranmore Light blends cashmere and silk with a fine merino wool to create an authentic tweed yarn of the finest quality. I have always loved colorwork with tweed yarns.

I actually received yarn support for both the hat and a coordinating cowl that will be released two weeks from today, on December 13. These colorwork projects were inspired by high fashion garments featuring graphic variations of houndstooth check. I enjoyed charting some of these checks for stranded knitting.

The check pattern I use here was one of my favorites. I love how the background color appears as a series of four-pointed stars. ‘Sidereal’ means of or relating to distant stars or constellations.

The hat, with optional pompom, may be made in one of two sizes to fit most women (men).

Finished Measurements
18¼ (19¾)” 46.5 (50) cm un-stretched brim circumference and 10¾ (11¾)” 27.5 (30) cm un-cuffed height, will stretch to fit heads up to approximately 22 (24)” 56, (61) cm

Yarn
DK weight yarn
For hat:
152 (178) yd 139 (163) m Main Color (MC)
38 (44) yd 35 (40) m Contrast Color (CC)
For optional 3⅜” (8.5 cm) pompom:
additional 43 yd 39 m CC

Note: If making both hat & cowl with Arranmore Light, two skeins of the main color and one of the contrast color will be more than enough. (Arranmore Light has an amazing 328 yds per skein.)

Thanks for reading!
xoxox

I hope you are out there somewhere!

For many weeks, I have worked on design samples and pattern-writing for my upcoming designs... A hat design will be released in two weeks and a cowl two weeks later.

My original swatch in The Fibre Co's Arranmore Light is where it all began. The Fibre Co. selected my proposal for their Yarn Support Programme AW 18/19. They provided yarn (in a very different color scheme) for both projects.

I am in need of a couple more test knitters for these designs (especially the cowl). Please consider test knitting one of these for me, if you have some experience knitting stranded colorwork from a chart.

For a lot more information on the hat test knit see this post on Ravelry.

For a lot more information on the cowl test knit see this post on Ravelry.

I have made the deadlines for these projects quite flexible. I only ask that you would have a Ravelry project page with flattering WIP photos ready to link to my pattern page on its release date.

Sidereal Check Hat coming November 29!
Sidereal Check Cowl coming December 13!

I look forward to hearing from you!!!
xoxox

Officially Launched: Swatch Warriors

www.swatchwarriors.com

This has been a busy fall... During the weeks that my Trinity Mountain Hat and Daphnis scarf designs were released I have spent time promoting them... I have also been working on two more designs that will definitely be released in 2018... A couple more are in the works and may be released shortly thereafter... These are also the weeks of the year when publishers everywhere are seeking design submissions for next fall........

I am interrupting all of that to announce the official launch of a brand new pattern website!!!

~  Swatch Warriors ~

The site is the brainchild of Yurika Kotze of South Africa -- a crochet designer who has a dayjob building ECommerce sites. This summer, after months of work, Yurika put out a call to designers on Ravelry to gauge interest in her yet to be launched curated pattern site. Enough designers, including myself, came on-board for the launch.

Swatch Warriors is a deeply curated collection, quite different from Ravelry, whose primary goal is to be an all-inclusive fiber-arts database. Swatch Warriors sets itself apart with Yurika's curation. She has used her designer's eye and aesthetic to sift out what are the most beautiful, fresh and forward-thinking patterns that designers have to offer. The website is lovely and easily navigated, first by tool (needles or hook), and then by category. There are new patterns being added every week, and a fun featured 'Pattern of the Week'. I hope to contribute more designs to the site in the future.

Please check it out. I think you will be glad that you did!
xoxox

DAPHNIS -- Scarves etc 7 is here!

I am happy to announce the release of my scarf design, DAPHNIS.

Daphnis is just one of 10 beautiful knitwear designs for hand-knitters included in Quince and co's annual neckwear collection, Scarves etc, 7.

The cables of Daphnis are very round and flowing. Its generous size makes it a statement piece.

The cable crossings are unique in that three groups of stitches are crossed using two cable needles. (I found using two bamboo double-pointed needles worked even better for me than using cable needles.)

The cable crossings are all the same and there are over 100 of them.

I loved using Osprey for Daphnis. It is a lofty, soft, plump and round wool yarn that has tremendous stitch definition -- perfect for the triple-cross Daphnis knitted cables. The Aran weight Osprey worked up beautifully to make a substantially-sized piece that is light and lofty. The Nightshade colorway is a favorite of mine, but there are dozens more to choose from.

Thanks for reading!

xoxox

💗

Coming Soon: Scarves Etc 7

The first one was Scarves etc 2012. I was very lucky that year, as a new knitwear designer, to have my cowl, Jonna selected for Quince & co's first annual collection of scarves, cowls, wraps and shawls.

  Jonna, Carolyn Kern 

 Scarves, etc 2012, © Quince & Co.

Every year since 2012, the yarn company has put together a Scarves etc neckware collection, having published a total of 76 designs in six years. A handful of times over the years, I have submitted design proposals when I have seen their calls for submissions. My ideas were not selected until the call late last year...

A new design of mine will be one of 10 in the new Scarves, etc 7 to be released on Thursday, October 11! It is so rewarding to have finally got back in again!

Quince is so amazing to work with. One of my favorite people at Quince is Jerusha, who just posted about Scarves, etc through the years.

As before the release of Jonna, I have not yet seen any of the Quince photography for my new design with the sample that I made this spring. I can hardly wait to see them, and the other 9 designs in the Scarves etc 7 lookbook on Thursday!

You can go to the post by Jerusha, and click through the link at the bottom to sign up for Quince email announcements... or follow me here, or on Ravelry, but especially on Instagram.

I will close with a teaser photo and a a secret that I learned along the way about #7...

There will be a good number of cables.

xoxox

New Design: TRINITY MOUNTAIN HAT

My latest design, Trinity Mountain Hat, was recently released by Green Mountain Spinnery. It was a fun and colorful project!

I designed the hat to show off GMS's brand new DK weight Ragg-Time yarn. This 100% wool yarn comes in many stunning colorways.

The "Holiday" colorway, on top above, was sent for me to work with for my hat design. This colorway is actually more of a gradient yarn with long lengths of color that do not repeat within one skein. This became evident once I wound my skein into a ball.

I selected a highly-textured stitch pattern most commonly known as Trinity Stitch.

The stitch pattern continues through the decreasing of the crown. The pompom is optional.

Details

Finished Measurements

13¼ (16½, 19¾)” / 33.5 (42, 50) cm un-stretched circumference
 (will stretch to fit heads up to approximately 19 (22, 25)” / 48.5 (56, 63.5) cm).
  10½ (11½, 12)” / 26.5 (29, 30.5) cm un-cuffed height.

Yarn250 - 300 yards (229 - 274 m) DK weight yarnOne skein of Green Mountain Spinnery Ragg-Time will be enough to make a hat in either of the two smaller sizes along with a pompom similar in size to sample hat.
 If making the largest size hat, a smaller pompom could be made.

Needles

                 - Size US 3 [3.25 mm] needles: 16” circular (cir) 

                 - Size US 6 [4.0 mm] needles: 16” circular (cir) and set of double-pointed (dpn).

Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.

View the Trinity Mountain Hat on Ravelry for more information.

Both pattern and yarn are available at the Green Mountain Spinnery website.

Also see this GMS blog post for more information on Ragg-Time yarn and other ideas for using it.

Thanks for reading!
xoxox