New Design: NO-WRONG-SIDE Hat

NO-WRONG-SIDE Hat
(right side when knitting)

I am very happy to introduce my bulky weight, reversible (2-hats-in-1), design in three sizes, NO-WRONG-SIDE Hat.

Earlier this year, I was thrilled to learn that I had been selected for The Fibre Co’s Fall 2017 Yarn Support Programme! The Fibre Co's Tundra is the the perfect blend of baby alpaca, merino and silk, worked into a 2-ply that gives it a pleasing, well-rounded appearance for great stitch definition. Though a bulky yarn, it is very light in weight, lofty and extremely warm. It is perfect for the deep texture / cable stitch pattern of the No-Wrong-Side Hat.

This design was originally sparked by the photo of the “Sunburst Check” stitch pattern on page 202 of A 2ND TREASURY OF KNITTING PATTERNS by Barbara G Walker. I was fascinated by the depth of texture in the photo. The poofs of stockinette push strongly forward leaving little pockets of reverse stockinette like pools beneath them. 

When I swatched this stitch pattern, I was quite surprised to find that the reverse side of the fabric was a stitch pattern in itself – a very fluid rib-cable. It did not look like the “wrong side” of a piece of knitting. I worked out a double brim that compliments both sides of the hat. I also created a decreasing crown that flows from the stitch pattern on both sides of the hat.

NO-WRONG-SIDE Hat
(reverse side when knitting)

The brim of the hat is folded on a purl ridge and knit together creating a double layer brim. This requires a provisional cast-on and a later “knitting two layers together round” (much like three-needle-bind-off, but with both knit and purl stitches). Next there is an increase round with specific purl increases. For the remainder of the hat, both charted and written directions are provided.

Hat swatch showing purl ridge and double layer brim,
(knit with Tundra in the Boreal colorway).

PATTERN DETAILS

Finished Measurements
15½ (18¼, 20¾)” [39.5 (46.5, 52.5) cm] circumference and 8¼” [21 cm] high,
will stretch to fit heads up to approximately 19 (22, 24)” [48.5 (56, 61) cm].

Yarn
Bulky weight yarn,
approximately 96 (112, 128) yd [88 (103, 117) m] for hat.

Shown in:
The Fibre Co. Tundra (60% alpaca, 30% wool, 10% silk; 120 yd [110 m], 100 g)
 Tiaga colorway, 1 (1, 2) skein(s).

Needles
- Size US 9 [5.5 mm] needles: 16” [40 cm] circular (cir).
- Size US 10.5 [6.5 mm] needles: 16” [40 cm] circular and set of double-pointed (dpn). Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.
- Spare US 9 [5.5 mm] or smaller 16” [40 cm] cir needle to hold hem stitches.

My No-Wrong-Side Hat pattern has been carefully written and tech-edited.

Three of my local knitting friends kindly and helpfully agreed to test the pattern in the Fibre Co Tundra. After which, I ran a successful second test knit on Ravelry. (I love all of my test knitters!)

This pattern is now available on Ravelry at an introductory reduced price of $3.75 until the end of the day (11:59 EST) December 4. After that, the pattern will be available at its regular price of $5.00.

My No-Wrong-Side Hat is a fun and quick-to-knit project... perfect for gift knitting. Because I am a participating designer in the Ravelry Indie Gift-A-Long, this hat is an eligible pattern for participation in the GAL2017 HATS & OTHER HEAD THINGS KAL/CAL, where you will find all the love and support you could wish for... as you finish your own gift knitting goals... along with fun games and many prizes.

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for your support of indie designers!!!
xoxox 

New Design: GODIVA MITTS

Godiva Mitts

I am very happy to have just released my latest indie design, GODIVA MITTS. Like most of my designs, it has been a long time coming...

The spark began last spring when I focused on the diamond shape of a single ‘aran’ fishermen’s style cable... I was looking at one beautiful cable, and I thought of fitting it onto the back of a hand to make a mitt -- allowing its gently tapering width to enhance the shaping of the mitt.

I had the image of a small, dainty, fitted mitt and I knew that I wanted it to be sweet and feminine. I decided to fill the cable with some lacy open-work.

Swatch on Hand

I charted and then swatched the cable panel using a skein of yarn in my stash, Knit Picks Capretta in the Cream colorway. Then, somewhere in between August and September I made the first pair of Godiva Mitts. 

First Godiva's in Knit Picks Caprette

My friends at Gosh Yarn It! loved them when I brought them in on a regular Thursday "knit night" in October.

After other design obligations were met, I made the second pair of Godiva's using a single skein of Mango Moon Mulberry Meadow in the Rain Cloud colorway. These have a longer cuff -- a simple change, but one that gives the mitts a different look.

Longer cuffed mitts in Mango Moon Mulberry Meadow

Details

Finished Measurements

7½” [19 cm] un-stretched circumference (measured at widest point).
The cream-colored mitts are 7” [18 cm] long, with a  2½” [6.5 cm] cuff.
The gray mitts are 8½” [21.5 cm] long, with a 4" [10 cm] cuff.

Yarn
140 yd [128 m] of fingering weight yarn for shorter cuff

175 yd [160 m] of fingering weight yarn for longer cuff

Needles
Size US 2 [2.75 mm] needles (two circular or set of double-pointed)

 Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.

My Godiva Mitts pattern has been carefully written and tech-edited, after which I ran an extremely successful test knit on Ravelry. I love my test knitters!

This pattern is available on Ravelry at an introductory reduced price of $3.75 until midnight (GMT) July 21. After that the pattern will be available at its regular price of $5.00.

Thanks for reading!
xoxox 

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?
 

Thompson River Socks, IK Fall 2016

I am so pleased to have my Thompson River Socks included in the recently released INTERWEAVE KNITS, Fall 2016... the 20TH ANNIVERSARY issue!!!

A few of the 20 designs in the issue were created by past and present Interweave editors including Pam Allen, Lisa Shroyer, Hannah Baker, and Meghan Babin. Several others are by star designers: Michele Wang, Kate Gagnon Osborn, Kathy Zimmerman, Mary Jane Mucklestone and Susanna IC. I have to pinch myself to make sure that it's not just a dream to have had my own design selected to be a part of this amazing issue!

Thompson River Socks first began when I wanted to make (myself) a pair of socks using my favorite toe-up construction, but with a less boring stitch pattern than my (go-to) TATU Sock. I planned (and began a sock) with a cable panel at the center of the front and back, gansey stitch patterning on the sides, and a band of colowork at the top... all to make for a fun to knit pair of socks.

Knits editor, Meghan Babin, mentioned worsted weight socks in her IK Fall 2016 design call. In my submission, I offered my design in worsted weight sock yarn in three sizes.

When she replied to my submission, Meghan said she would love two pairs of "cozy, worsted weight" sample socks... "It would be adorable to photograph his and hers socks." How could I refuse? Here is a sneak-peek photo-collage Meghan posted on Instagram, a couple weeks ago.

 
I enjoyed all of the swatching and all of the knitting as I wrote the pattern last winter.

The yarn is Jarbo Garn Raggi Sock Yarn [70% wool, 30% nylon], distributed by Swedish Yarn. The socks, knit on US size 3 (3.25 mm) needles, are warm and cozy... close enough fitting to wear in a boot, but soft and slouchy enough to become your favorite slipper sock. At only 36-52 stitches around the cuff, and with cables and colorwork to keep you engaged, Thompson River Socks are a fun, fast knit! 

All of the patterns in INTERWEAVE KNITS, Fall 2016 are available for digital download, with links on Ravelry. The digital edition of the magazine can be found at IK Fall 2016.

Print editions are now available in bookshops and yarn stores everywhere!

Photo Credit, all but last photo:  © Harper Point Photography and Interweave Knits 2016.

Design Release: Floribunda Mitts

 

Even before I designed my Floribunda Cap (with a brand new yarn that was then soon to be available at my LYS, Gosh Yarn It!) I knew that I would also design a companion mitt pattern.

The yarn, Knit One, Crochet Too Après Ski, is a soft blend of wool and nylon featuring really bright colors.

 

With GYI's request for a new colorwork class project using this outstandingly brilliant color, I immediately thought of flowers.  The mitts have an optional rose in duplicate stitch on the back of each hand.  The pattern has two sizes to fit most girls (women).

The hat is a great beginner two-handed stranded colorwork project.  The rolled stockinette edge goes quickly to get right into the stranded colorwok.  The leaf border is the simplest kind of stranded colorwork... limited to three stitches between color changes, it requires little attention to the lengths of floats.  When you get to the rose motif rows, I recommend "trapping" some of the floats.  For more information on all this, please see my popular blog post, Two-Handed Stranded Colorwork Tutorial.

Any two 100g skeins of worsted/aran weight yarn should be plenty to make both the cap and a pair of mitts.

Details
Finished Mitts Measurements

5¾ (6¾)” [14.5 (17 cm)] hand circumference (measured around palm) and 8¼ (9)” [21 (23) cm)] long when unrolled

Yarn Required 
Worsted weight yarn 
50 (60) yd [46 (55) m] Color A 
50 (60) yd [46 (55) m] Color B 
Shown in: 
Knit One, Crochet Too Après Ski (70% wool, 30% nylon; 197 yd [180 m], 100 g) 
Color A:  #238 Cherry Bomb, 1 skein 
Color B:  #589 Colorado Spruce, 1 skein 
Needles (Adjust size if necessary to get correct gauge) 
Size US 7 [4.5 mm] needles (two circular or set of double-pointed).  Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.

The Floribunda Mitts pattern is now available for a limited time at a special introductory price of $2.50.  This discount ends midnight Sunday, April 24.  The regular price of the pattern will be $5.

Thanks for reading and happy knitting!

♥♥♥

Related Post:  Just Adorable -- Models, Hats, Hats on Models 
 

Just Adorable -- Models, Hats, Hats on Models

I was extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to photograph the design samples for my newly released Floribunda Cap pattern modeled by the beautiful and awesome (she even knits!) Lyla, and her lovely mom, Kami.

I really enjoyed the time I got to spend with both of them one morning back in November.  I am grateful that they have been patient in their wait to see this design actually being published.  (Good things take time.)

Aren't they absolutely the best handknit hat models ever?

The Floribunda Cap is a two-color stranded colorwork cap in two sizes to fit most girls (women).

Details
Finished Hat Measurements
18¼ (20½)” [46.5 (52) cm] circumference and 8¼ (8¾)” [21 (22) cm] tall when unrolled

Yarn Required
Worsted weight yarn
80 (90) yd [73 (82) m] Color A
80 (90) yd [73 (82) m] Color B
Shown in:
Knit One, Crochet Too Après Ski (70% wool, 30% nylon; 197 yd [180 m], 100 g)
Color A:  #238 Cherry Bomb, 1 skein
Color B, Size 18¼”:  #762 Borealis, 1 skein
Color B, Size 20½”:  #589 Colorado Spruce, 1 skein

Needles (Adjust size if necessary to get correct gauge)
Size US 7 [4.5 mm] needles: 16” circular (cir) and set of double-pointed (dpn) 

The Floribunda Cap pattern is now available for a limited time at a special introductory price of $2.50.  This discount ends midnight Sunday, April 17.  The regular price of the pattern will be $5.

Thanks for reading and happy knitting!     
♥♥♥