Made in May / Coming in June / More in July

Made in May

during

The Gosh Yarn It Multi-Pane Mitten KAL

my

Multi-Pane-Mittens in neutral colorways

Yarn: Blue Sky Fibers Woolstock

in Gravel Road and Drift Wood

Coming in June

(next week, maybe, probably)

This is a January photo of my "boxed to send to Colorado"

Walnut (Cable Boxes) Cowl

My next magazine design!!!

KNITSCENE FALL 2017!

Yarn: The Fibre Co Arranmore

in Cronan 

NEW:

I have a new computer, surface book,

 I'm using a new browser, chrome,

 I now have a new photo editor, picmonkey,

I used it all to make this "teaser" photo

 of my next new indie knit design...

More in July

This is a photo of my left hand wearing a lovely little mitt

with an aran cable filled with lace.

My next indie design is now being tested

(more photos)

here.

Happy May Day!

May Day is an ancient northern hemisphere festival of spring (never thought about that northern hemisphere thing until I started this post...) I am growing in my global awareness.

You may never wear mittens in May (if you live in the northern hemisphere) but you might enjoy knitting a mitten or two this month.

Today is the LAST day that you can purchase my Multi-Pane Mitten pattern with an introductory 50% price reduction. The promotion ends at midnight EST. Click here to buy it now at half price. See the pattern page or my last post for more information.

Today is the FIRST day of the Gosh Yarn It MULTI-PANE MITTEN KAL. Please join us in the Gosh Yarn It KAL discussion thread. I would love to have you virtually join in the KAL! Just chime in to participate, even if you are too far away to knit with us at the shop. The KAL runs through the end of May.
   

MULTI-PANE MITTENS: Design Release, Promotion(s) & KAL

My MULTI-PANE MITTENS pattern is now available on Ravelry! Please read more to learn about the pattern, my introductory promotion(s), and an upcoming KAL!

My goal with this design was to create an easy stranded colorwork pattern for a mitten. I began with corrugated ribbing and carried on with many more rectangles in stranded colorwork… reminding me of windows with many panes…

This pattern was designed for those with previous experience knitting small diameters in the round on double-pointed or two-circular needles, or by using the Magic Loop method. There are step by step instructions for the “afterthought” thumbs.

I have set up a half price introductory promotion on the MULTI-PANE MITTENS pattern. From now through midnight on Monday, May 1, the pattern price will be $2.50 (no coupon code required). The regular price of the pattern will be $5.00. Click on this link to buy it now at half price!

OR, even better... 

You can get the pattern absolutely free from now through Tuesday, May 16, if you purchase yarn to make the mittens at Gosh Yarn It! in Kingston, PA. 

Once you get your yarn and pattern, please join me in the Multi-Pane Mitten KAL at Gosh Yarn It! This KAL will run through the month of May. It will take place in the shop (where I hope to be on most Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons) and will also take place online, in this thread, at the GYI! Ravelry group discussion board.

Knitters everywhere... we welcome you... please consider joining us virtually for the KAL! It will be a lot of fun!   

 

DETAILS
Finished Measurements
8½” [21.5 cm] circumference and 9¾” [25 cm] overall length (sized to fit most women)

Yarn Required
Worsted weight yarn
90 yd 82 m Color A
85 yd 78 m Color B
 
Sample Yarn
Blue Sky Fibers Woolstok (100% Fine Highland Wool; 123 yd 112 m, 50 g)
Color A: No. 1310 Cranberry Compote, 1 skein
Color B: No. 1319 Quartz Crystal, 1 skein
Needles
- Size US 5 3.75 mm needles (two circular or set of double-pointed)
Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge. Many knitters find they need to size up when working stranded colorwork.

You may find my popular Two-Handed Stranded Colorwork Tutorial helpful if you are new to colorwork.

Thanks for reading and happy knitting!

♥♥♥

Open the Window

This was my desk a month ago as I worked on my next new knitting pattern.

"Mitten Work Zone" I captioned it on Instagram... my laptop, my desk... the second mitten in a photographable state of "how to start the afterthought thumb"... a chart, a pad, a pencil... etc.

There is also the window. More of that window on Instagram here.

All of my workspaces have windows or I would not work in them.

I love spring and daylight and windows. In this wonderful season of window opening, I am almost ready to release a mitten pattern that I have named MULTI-PANE MITTENS. 

Follow me here, or on Instagram, to learn of an introductory discount (beginning April 26) on the pattern. Then, during the month of May, join me and my good friends (in person or virtually) at Gosh Yarn It! for a MULTI-PANE MITTEN KAL.

Open your windows and take a very deep and fresh breath of spring. Then join us in knitting a fun small project during our transition to longer, warmer days. (I am planning some tutorials on that thumb.) (There will likely be KAL prizes.)

May is my favorite month of the year! Did you open that window yet?
 

Indie Design Gift-A-Long

It's that time of year again... time to cast-on holiday gifts... or at least to start planning them. And I know a great place to start!

TATU Socks

The 2015 Indie Design Gift-A-Long on Ravelry began last evening. A group of over 300 knit and crochet designers are offering from 5-20 patterns each with a 25% discount through midnight (EST) next Friday, November 27. There are over 5000 patterns on sale!

You can browse by designer in the Participating Designer Thread.

Or, you can check out these Gift-A-Long Pinterest Boards:

Hats and Head Things
Cowls, Scarves and Neck Things
Shawls and Stoles 
Sweaters and Other Garments 
Hand and Arm Things
Feet and Leg Things
Baby and Kid Things (except toys) 
Toys, Home and Miscellaneous Things
Crochet Patterns

After you get all of your patterns and your gift knitting plans in place, don't forget to join the Indie Designer Gift-A-Long group.

There you will find some amazingly lively and incredibly fun GAL-2015 KAL/CAL's with tons of gift knitting support, some really fun games, lots of friendly chatter, and thousands (yes, thousands) of prizes! The fun goes on and on every day until the end of the year 2015!

Ready, set, GIFT!

An Invitation (Up Close & Personal)

Paper Lanterns Detail, © Gosh Yarn It!

Ann at Gosh Yarn It! does take the best knitting photos!  This detail shot is my absolute favorite of the photos she took of my Paper Lanterns shawlette while it is (temporarily) a GYI! resident sample.

As part of GYI's Summer Camp 2015, for the month of August, I will be hosting a KAL at the shop & in this Ravelry thread.  I will be in the shop this Saturday, August 1, at 1:00 PM to cast on my newest Paper Lanterns.  The pattern begins "CO 14"...  How easy is that?

My chosen yarn is the lovely Wonderland Yarns "Mad Hatter" sport weight - 344 yds - 4 oz - 100% superwash merino in the 'Crimson Fury' colorway.  [The actual weight of this balled skein is 3.95 oz or 113 g.  This might be helpful to know when I get near the halfway mark.]  It will be interesting to see Paper Lanterns knit up in a semi-solid kettle-dyed yarn.

Paper Lanterns is a great summer knit!  You may use any sock yarn -- sport weight or fingering -- wildly variegated or semi-solid.  My sample (there are many photos on the pattern page) was made with 360 yds of sport weight sock yarn.  The pattern is fairly easy to memorize and the garter stitch body of the shawl moves along quickly.

Please join me in this KAL!  You can start at anytime after the 1st, but the goal is to finish by the end of the month.  Follow the thread and visit with me at GYI! this Saturday.  I look forward to knitting with you!  Happy almost August!

Ravelry Indie Design 2014 Gift-A-Long

I would like to announce that I will be a returning designer in the 2nd annual Indie Design Gift-A-Long.  All of my Ravelry for-sale patterns are included in this promotion and all are eligible for the 2014 GAL KAL/CAL.  (My Ravelry patterns can be found in a bundle right here on my designer page.)

The Indie Design Gift-A-Long is a 2 month long KAL/CAL of holiday gifts made from patterns designed by an incredible number of (293!) independent designers from 21(!) countries around the world.

From Thursday, November 13th at 8:00 pm (EST) to Friday, November 21, 2014 at 11:59 pm (EST) tons of (293!) indie designers will be discounting from 4 to 20 of their patterns by 25% for this event (3822 patterns will be on sale!)  You can read all about the details in this Ravelry post.

Once you’ve got your Gift-A-Long patterns, you can join a relevant KAL/CAL. (For instance, if it is a cowl, please join the cowl KAL/CAL.)  To join, simply write a post in the KAL/CAL thread you want to join, including the pattern name you will be knitting, and a link to your project page.  KAL/CAL participants are eligible for lots of lovely prizes but you gotta post to win!

The KAL/CALs will run from Thursday, November 13 at 8 pm (EST) through a group New Years Eve party, Wednesday, December 31 at midnight (EST), plenty of time to knock out all your holiday knitting and crocheting.  There will be several games, tons of prizes, great conversation, and a whole lot of fun, so pull up a chair and join us!  Ready, Set, Gift!

Playground Shawl KAL Update

I am very grateful to the three participants in the Playground KAL who have finished their shawls and have given me permission to share some lovely FO images with you.

Nancy (americana) named her gorgeous Cat's Cradle "The River".  From Nancy's project notes: "The reason for the name, I just got back from the 1000 Islands, and we stayed right on the river!! Beautiful place:o)"  Her words brought back vacation memories.  I have been to the Thousand Islands very many times and I totally agree.  I can see a river in the variegated blue stripes. The colors in the shawl include a more vivid blue (Madeline Tosh's colorway 'shoreline') than what appears in the photo, but this shot by the window is my favorite image.  Thanks, Nancy!  Good work!

Lisa (lacotter) worked up this stunning Red Rover in a rich pink with dark gray Heritage sock yarn.  Her project, named simply "Red Rover Shawl", was made as a gift for her cousin.  From a post by Lisa in the KAL thread:  "I’m excited to send it to my cousin. She battled breast cancer several years ago and her favorite color is pink."  Truly, a beautiful way to wrap that cousin up in a great big hug!  Thanks for sharing, Lisa!

Sharon (seffy) aptly named her Cat's Cradle "Cradle of Tweed".  I always love a good tweed!  (Got to get my hands on some of that Geilsk yarn.)  Sharon said, "The bind off took forever it seemed!"  I think that you will agree that it was well worth the time, as was the washing and blocking!  Great job, Sharon!

Thanks again, Nancy, Lisa, and Sharon, you have done my patterns proud!

These knitters won free patterns for being the first three in the KAL to finish their shawls.  You still have time to join in the Playground Shawl KAL, which will conclude at midnight November 30.  Two of these lovely knits were made in less than the three weeks that remain.  There are several great prizes to be won at the end of the Playground KAL.

In my next post, I will be announcing another KAL and pattern promotion that I will be just a small part of... This will be HUGE!  Shhhh!  I cannot say anymore right now, but please come back on Wednesday for my next post.  Until then, happy knitting to one and all!

Final Rose(s) 2014

This is my 300th blog post!

And my total number of "pageviews" recently surpassed 25,000.  (I think that means that 25,000 times someone clicked on a link -- from somewhere else -- to one of my posts  -- since June 12, 2011 -- the date of my very first blog post.)  (I do not think that is a lot for 3+ years, but it certainly has grown.)

The Playground Shawl KAL is off to a very fine start with a lot of lovely knitting happening!  I hope that you will consider joining us!

I shot all of the photos for the first group of KAL prizes while they rested on the very same corner of our deck (and on the same day) that I shot this photo of my final roses. 

(Sad it is for me.  The end of summer saddens me.)

My "final roses" are the ones that I carefully snip from my handful of rose bushes when I also make a stab at trimming those bushes for the end of the season.  I do love roses, but these bushes grow wildly in all kinds of wrong directions, and at least twice a year they require a whole lot of trimming.

(Sad it is for me to live in climate where roses bloom for only about 5 month a year.)

But about the KAL:  There is still plenty of time to get in on it!  You get a chance to win a prize for any project that you finish before the end of November.  I am getting ready to add even more prizes.  Just click on the links above to learn more!

I hope that you enjoy your fall wherever and whenever you are able!
 

Come to the Playground!

I would like to invite all of my readers to join me at the playground!  The Playground Shawl KAL 2014 has just kicked off this week both on Ravelry and at my favorite LYS, Gosh Yarn It!.  My great friends at GYI! have been extremely helpful in allowing me to host a KAL-information-and-discussion-thread on their group page at Ravelry.

All projects for the KAL will be shawls knit from one of the patterns in my Playground Shawl ebook.  Shown above are Cat's Cradle, Double Dutch and two versions of Red Rover. You can read more about the origins of these designs in my recent blog posts: here, here and here.  Each shawl has at least two colors, and I am so looking forward to seeing all the versions that will be created! 

Cast on anytime!  The KAL officially began on Thursday, October 2, and will end Sunday, November 30.  I just extended the end date by two weeks to allow more time for new participants to join us!  There is still plenty of time to get in on the KAL!

Oh, and did I mention the prizes?  Several prizes will be awarded and announced in the Ravelry thread, and here on the blog, during the first week of December. Each shawl that becomes a FO before midnight, EST, November 30 will be eligible for a prize.  Please make a project page for your shawl at Ravelry.  Add a photo and link it to the pattern page.  Use the tag playground2014.  When you finish the project, just mark it finished on the project page, and/or post in the thread that it is completed.  If you complete more than one shawl, you will be eligible to win a prize for each shawl that you finish.

Anyone on Ravelry, who knows of my work, is welcome to participate by joining in on this thread!  The first post describes all of the details.  In the second post is a list of all participants with links to their Ravelry project pages.  The third post has photos of the prizes.

Please come out to play!

Gift-A-Long Update

Just a reminder that the first part of the Gift-A-Long promotion on Ravelry will be ending at midnight tonight.

There are approximately 3000 patterns for sale on Ravelry with a 25% discount, all using the same coupon code "giftalong".  Here is a link to a very important thread where the approximately 160 (indie/independent) designers have declared which of their patterns are included in the Gift-A-Long.  These are considered "participating patterns".  I am on page 2 of the thread, right here.

As the sale comes to an end, I want to remind my readers of the second part of the promotion.  There are hundreds of prizes to be won!  Many are patterns (electronic prizes), but there are also a great number of physical prizes.  For a chance to win the prizes, you need to select one of the participating patterns (see the "link" above), and enter your project by posting in an appropriate KAL/CAL thread.  (It does not matter when you buy the pattern, before or after the sale period are both OK, but the pattern does have to be a participating pattern.)  Another wonderful place to browse participating patterns is at the Gift-A-Long Pinterest Boards.

Just by posting in one of the KAL/CAL threads, you will have a chance to win random prizes.  There are some games going on, as well.  After you finish a project, post (one time only per each FO) in the Official FO thread (with a photo if possible).  Each FO post is an entry in one of two large prize drawings, I believe that they will be on December 1 and then shortly after the December 31 end of the GAL KAL/CAL.

I am very grateful for a chance to be a part of this promotion!  I cannot express how amazing it was to watch those who organized this (in about a week) setting it all in place.  Fantastic amount of work!  The Pinterest boards are lovely.  (Volunteers had to pin each pattern individually.)  The prizes are all organized into lists and ready to be won.  Oh, and did I forget to mention the advertizing help... images for posts and ravatars, and those great transparent tags with instructions on how to layer them onto a photo.  I think the fact that the group has 4 administrators and 25 moderators indicates how much work is still being done to make the KAL/CAL's a lot of fun for everyone.  Please consider joining in the group and the GAL KAL/CAL's!  Post those FO's for more chances to win!

Happy Holiday Knitting!  Happy Holiday Gifting!  
   

It's Gift-A-Long Eve!

OK, Okay.  I do know that today is a real holiday.  Happy Halloween to one and all!

I would like to announce to all who knit or crochet that today is also Gift-A-Long Eve!

You may well be asking, "What is 'Gift-A-Long'?"

To jump start holiday gift knitting & crocheting, a group of over 150 designers who offer self-published patterns for sale on Ravelry, have joined together in a promotion named "Gift-A-Long".  The first phase of this promotion starts tomorrow with thousands of patterns being offered at 25% off after applying the coupon code "giftalong".  The official dates for the discount are November 1-15 (with most designers using GMT).  I am one of the designers, and all three (wish there were more) of my self-published, for-sale patterns are included.

 

Clockwise from top:
Two by Two by Two, Version 1
Jemma Cowl
Two by Two by Two, Version 2 (Both versions are included in one pattern.)
Fingering Weight TATU Socks (Four sizes included.)

There are soooo many wonderful patterns to pick from!!!  I now quote the group page for the "Indie Design Gift-A-Long" group:

"Prepping for the holidays as only fiber folks can, with special deals from tons of indie designers!

What is Gift-A-Long? It’s a multi-designer promotion to help you kick your holiday gift-making into high gear!

Put plainly, from November 1st until November 15th any pattern listed in the “List of Participating Patterns” thread is 25% off when you use the code “giftalong”.

Once you’ve got your Gift-A-Long patterns, we encourage you to join a relevant KAL/CAL! (For instance, if it is a cowl, please join the cowl KAL/CAL.) KAL/CAL participants are eligible for lots of lovely prizes (check out the Prizes thread for details) but you gotta post to win!
KAL/CALs will run until December 31st, plenty of time to knock out all your holiday knitting and crocheting.

On your mark…get set…. GIFT!"

Did you get that second part of the promotion?  Using any of the patterns offered in the Gift-A-Long (GAL) promotion, start a project (link it to the pattern page) and post about it in a relevant KAL/CAL thread on the group's discussion board.  There will be contests, and random prizes will be awarded to anyone who posts about their GAL projects in those threads.  When you finish a project made from one of the GAL patterns, post about it in the FO thread (one post for each FO, and one FO per post).  There will be two major giveaways (with hundreds of prizes) for GAL FO's: one in the middle of the GAL KAL/CAL and one after the December 31 ending date.  Please take a moment to join the gift-a-long group, where you can learn of any updated information.

Surprise!  Tomorrow is here!  I wrote this post a few days ago.  Then I learned that the organizers wanted all participating designers to keep it quiet until November 1.  Then I learned that November 1, 0:00 (midnight) GMT = October 31, 8:00 PM EDST.  So, (while I may be a bit late with my Halloween greeting;-) -- I waited to post this until now to be able to say:  The sale has just begun!  Here is a link to my post in the "List of Participating Patterns" thread.  From there you can begin your pattern browsing.  Enjoy!