My friend Kim gave me some hand spun yarn, a beautiful mix of natural white and grey.
It was about 240 yards and 3.4 oz. . . mmm , I asked myself, “what shall I knit with this?”
I settled on this fun textured stitch cowl.
A simple knit and purl zig zag pattern.
Find the pattern for sale on Ravelry.
I’ve finally figured out what to do with this beautiful Rovings, polwarth/silk blend yarn that I’ve had in my stash for years! I love this yarn but just couldn’t come up with a garment I thought would work that I would actually wear for this yarn.
I thought about a pull over – but being a woman of a certain age, I am much more attracted to cardigans.
I thought about a small tank to wear as long underwear. This idea came very close to being the chosen garment, but the yarn is so pretty and I couldn’t see hiding it.
To my taste, it is too flowing and drapey for a vest.
A shawl would have been a very nice garment for this yarn. . .but I just wasn’t satisfied. My last 3 projects have been shawls and I’m ready for something new.
Then I became of a Knit-along sponsored by Twitch and Stitch Podcast titled: CanadaKal.
Now I had a bee in my bonnet get something knit out of this year which I purchased from a Canadian Shepherd!
I’ve always loved infinity scarves because of their wrappability (is that a word) and because when they are not wrapped they are a nice visual accessory. So I decided on an Infinity scarf.
I love traveling stitches, also known as 2 stitch cable work. So I decided to knit this in the round the long way. The texture cable pattern runs horizontally across the scarf instead of the long vertical way. I am so pleased with this! For me it is an easy knit, and I was so ready to just go round and round!
Stay tuned for the pattern. I need to finish it by Sept 30 to enter it in the KAL. So look for the pattern shortly after that!
Happy knitting everyone.
A friend of mine asked for a white knit hat to wear during Yoga class. . . that was a while ago and the conference is coming up soon.
here are my thought:
somewhat open stitches
lace – like but not girly lace-like
stretchy
length is to top of ears only – don’t need a brim on this one:)
thinking of faggotting lace or some such
well – I’m off to knit. I’ll post pictures when it’s done!
In 2013 Minnesotans voted against the ban for same-sex marriage. Then, Minnesota was the first state in which the citizens voted to give same-sex couples the right to marry. . . the campaign was called “Love is the Law” Then the US Supreme court ruled marriage is a right for ALL couples!
so to honor all those new couples getting married I designed a A new hat pattern and I’m calling in it, “Love is the Law Cap”.
The cable pattern around the brim of the hat looks like intersecting wedding rings. These hats are uni-sex and perfect for any couple you know getting married!
Find the pattern on my Ravelry page!
I finally got my pattern for Kathy’s Earflap Hat edited and up for sale on Ravelry!
It is such a cute hat! And it includes twined knitting, which I adore!
I can’t remember where I was first introduced to twined knitting but I immediately fell in love with the beautiful patterning and durability of the knitting. wait – now I remember. I was browsing the knitting books at my local library and found this great book, “Twined Knitting A Swedish Folkcraft Technique” by Birgitta Dandanell and Ulla Danielsson. The photos are fabulous and I couldn’t get over the beautiful white on white designs. I wanted this book for my personal library but to my dismay the book was out of print and the cost ran 96$ and up. Luckily I have a big (and generous) family and they all went in together and purchased this great book for me.
I am always inspired when I wander through this book.
A friend of mine wanted me to knit her a cap, an earflap cap specifically, to match a beautiful woven scarf of her mother’s that had a great art deco sort of weave. . . angels and squares and subtle texture. I thought that working in twined knit would provide the perfect opportunity to create subtle texture designs. Kathy’s one of a kind hat is done in black and turned out great! 
I’ve knit many earflap hats with twined brims since this one and have written a pattern for a traditional pattern that is fun and easy to follow.
If you’ve never done twined knitting before I include a description in the pattern. There are also many youtube videos on twined knitting. In twined knitting you use two strands of yarn from the same skein,and as you knit you wrap each stitch around the next, alternating between the two strands. Yes, the result is a twisted skein of yarn, but I find that taking breaks to untwist the skein is as relaxing as the knitting. I use a double pointed needle, making an s-twist around it with both ends of yarn, then hold up the ends and watch the ball of yarn spin around and “untwist”. It’s fun!
My pattern also includes line by line directions, and graphs – you can follow which ever one works for you!
Happy knitting!
I finished these socks in 3 days!!
I’m celebrating a friend’s birthday tonight (Friday) and on Tuesday I thought how lovely it would be to give him a pair of hand knit socks. . . so here they are. . . on my old feet.
I used Harrisville Designs Highland yarn on size 3 needles. They are a sturdy pair of socks!
I love the variety of colors available by Harrisville Designs!
Even striped through the heels!
I knit this hat for Ellen but it is so soft and lovely that I’ll be wearing it when she isn’t!
I knit this in LOFT – a 100% American wool – Grown in Wyoming, spun in New England – this wool is very fun to knit.
I used size US 2 and 3 knitting needles and knit this hat in the round. Here is a link to my pattern.
I love to knit mittens and hats from the top down! Starting at the top provides me the opportunity to keep trying it on as I go. . . and my projects always turn out the right length.
Here is a video of a really nice cast on that I have started using to get a sweet flower at the top of my hats and mittens.
I used this method for this hat – 
I’m a big fan of fulling and felting too. These mitts are knit using two strands of Galway wool and US 17 circular needles, then fulled to fit.
I’m working on a pattern that explains how I knit mittens from the top down. . it will include directions for this fulled mitten, which by the way is super warm and great to wear in MN winters while waiting for the bus! This could also be used as an oven mitt.
A while back a friend mentioned she wanted a classy, black, earflap hat to wear with her “good” coat. She showed my the ecru 1940s art deco style silk scarf that she wears with this coat. A lovely design is woven into the scarf and I decided to try to match it on the brim of the hat. I wanted something that would be warm and with a nice firm brim and earflaps.
Result – twined knitting – with raised stitches.
I fell in love with twined knitting about a year ago, and my family chipped in and bought me Twined Knitting, A Swedish Folkcraft Technique by Birgitta Dandanell & Ulla Danielsson. (an out of print 96$ purchase!!).
So I read the book and figured out how to make raised stitch designs and the black hat pictured here was the result. I don’t remember what yarn I used for that hat.
After knitting several hats I’ve decided a nice spungey, springy yarn, with lots of body works best when knit on a smaller size needle than recommended on the label.
I’m happy to knit you one in the color of your choice! 50 colors to choose from in Harrisiville Shetland! Shoot me a comment for more details.
I am writing the pattern using the wavy raised stitch design for publication seen on the other hats pictured here.
Pattern coming soon!
Editor’s Choice!
This January the editor of Patternfish newsletter became intrigued with a new technique I’m developing – a new way of putting knit and purl rows together. I’ve written three patterns using this technique and she featured them in the newsletter.
Take a look! (Scroll down the newsletter a bit to find me)
Gayle found my knitted brass piece on my blog and included that in the bottom of the newsletter too.
I love days like this!
The most current pattern I’ve written using this technique is called Anna Dorothy – in honor of my maternal grandmother.
I adored my Grandma, Dorothy, and after she died we found her birth certificate: she was christened Anna Dorothy. Knowing this makes me miss her more.
This shawl is for you Grandma!
