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!
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!
After much consideration and reading lots of replies. . . I’ve decided it to call it. . .
Hannah’s Lace Shawl
It has already been a week since Yarnover, and Hop, Stitch, and Jump! I planned on blogging right away about the fabulous time I had and the new friends I made but I find that an entire week has lapsed.
I spend last Friday taking class with Cookie A. and Lucy Neatby. 3 Kittens Needle Arts and Steven Be’s collaborated on 2 days of great workshops and lots of fun evening events! I can’t thank them enough for a fun filled weekend.
But today’s message is really about needing a name for a new pattern I’ve written.
It is a lovely lace shawl, 10 stitch pattern repeats around. (read, easy to remember). And the bottom is scalloped with a 24 stitch repeat pattern. (also not too hard to get finger memory going on)
Here are photos of my niece, Hannah, modelling the three that I knit. I used 3 different fibers, the White one knit from a cone of weaver’s linen. . .the natural white one is knit in 3 ply super merino from Wool2dye4. . . and the blue one is Bamboo from South West Trading Company..
Send me a name suggestion and I’ll send you a free pdf of the pattern as soon as it is completed!
I’m really really going to blog more this week and show all my samples from the 18 (yes 18) hours of knitting classes I took last weekend.
I’ve been working on this lace shawl for a while. Here is the first one I knit in linen. I used size 9 needles and it is very airy and light!
I’m trying to decide if I should dye it or not. I’m thinking of maybe dying it a dark indigo blue.
Increases on the front are generous and allow for a very nice fit! it won’t fall of your shoulders. In this view you get a sense of the gentle ruffle around the bottom. (in the other photos I pulled out the ruffles so you could see the pattern)
The pattern repeat across the back is only 10 stitches and very easy to follow!
Here are a couple close up views of the lace work.
I knit this shawl from notes and scratches and bits and pieces of graphs. I was lucky to figure out what I did so I could re-write it.
I re-worked some of my charts and created pages ins Illustrator. After all that computer work I knit another shawl. This one is in Bamboo. However it is still in the unblocked stage and not ready for public view.
I found some errors and some things to change to make it more symmetrical. So now I’ve fixed the charts and started writing the directions. (I like to include charts and written directions in my patterns).
During the my Olympics viewing this weekend I started a third one to triple check my pattern before publicizing. I am knitting this one in a 4 ply superwash merino that is supplied by Wool2Dye4. I love knitting with this yarn! It is so soft and comfortable, yet firm and holding the lace patterning very well! Can’t wait to finish it. This one is a “natural white” and I might look around to see if an indie dyer has some of this in a blue colorway. (For some reason I’m into blues this year)
So stay tuned for my first lace knitting pattern!
I wanted something fun and easy and colorful to knit. I worked up this wrap using two strands of silk. I also did a few rows in Glace from Berrocco and then some novelty yarns that I had in my stash. Unfortunately the labels were lost long ago. The dark blue stripe(s) near the bottom were knit in a novelty yarn I bought in France in 1992. . . finally used up the last of it here.
I knit it from the top down using garter stitch.
The fronts are increased like EZ’s pi shawl and the back is increased along a center 10 stitches, similar to faroese shape.
This shawl definitely cured my itch.
I found this pattern on Ravelry and just had to knit it!
The pattern is written in German and, not being fluent in German, I had to follow the charts. Luckily I knew enough crafting terms to realize there is some crocheting to this scarf/shawl as well.
I had a bit of a time trying to photograph this project because the colors are so bright. . .red and purple are difficult to photograph without making them look like the colors are vibrating across the computer monitor.
I love the lace and the way this is put together. Short rows create the first shape that goes around your neck, then you crochet cast off. Then the beautiful leaf pattern begins and every other row you pick up at the crochet edge. When the leaf pattern has been knit from point to point, you pick up 400 or so stitches across the edge of the leaf pattern and knit the final lace pattern. To cast off you crochet again, chains in between crocheted off stitches. This pattern was really fun and kept my interest throughout.
It was also fun to see how the color repeats worked up. I bought this yarn ages ago from Blackberry Hills booth at Yarn Over about 5 years ago. It is a lovely 100% wool, sock weight yarn. I was waiting for just the right project to knit with it. It is so soft and light and warm. You know how some of the yarn in your stash gets put away in a box and you sort of forget about it? Well not this yarn. I kept it out on a shelf for 5 years. . . I kept looking at it and knitting swatches until finally I decided to knit this scarf with it.
If I were a few inches smaller (okay quite a few inches smaller) around, I could wear this as a shawl/vest.
Even as a scarf there are lots of ways to wear it!
I am so excited I can hardly stand it! I have another pattern posted on Patternfish. . .now available in downloadable .pdf format!
This is my treehugger neck cuff or cowl or neck warmer, whatever you want to call it. If you like a bit of a challenge try this pattern
It is warm and toasty! Great for wearing in a chilly indoor environment, there are no scarf ends to get in your way!
Last year while at Shepherd’s Harvest I bought some hand spun angora from Cozy Rabbit Farm. I love this stuff! It is super soft, a dream to knit, and super warm.
This scarf took 1.5 oz of this yummy angora. The scarf measure 38″ x 3 1/2″ and is so light and airy! I wrap it around my neck and it keeps me comfy all evening while knitting! The pattern is a very simple rib on size 7 needes: Row 1-knit, Row 2-k1,p1. Repeat.
I can’t wait to order more of this yarn!
I also knit this scarf with “novelty sheep yarn” from the same Cozy Rabbit Farms. It is also hand knit and hand dyed. This scarf used 200 yards of 2 ply.
I modified the lace pattern for this scarf from one I found in Mary Thomas’s Book of Knitting Patterns. She calls this pattern “horseshoe imprint” and it is found on page 175 in her book. She has the repeat occuring over 10 (+1) stitches. I made it 12 stitches wide instead, adding a stitch to each side. On the sides of the scarf is running a “faggot” lace stitch over 4 stitches.
I finally tried Cat Bordhi’s method of casting on and knitting a mobius the long way. (as opposed to the short way and having to graft a seam)
I learned from her video and then found her gifted pattern on her web site. I adjusted the pattern because this yarn I’m using knits at a smaller gauge.
This multi color mobisu measures 32″ and I knit it on size US 6 needles. The yarn is from Blackberry Hills about 3 years ago at Yarn Over.
I also changed the edge pattern from what Cat did. This pattern was lots of fun, easy to do once I got past the first 2 rows, and didn’t take long.
This was the perfect project to knit while walking in the dog park.
hello all my knitter friends,
Have i got a deal for you! I recently designed a sweater for a new web site that sells patterns and yarns, Uptown Stitches.
The owner sent me a message recently with a special deal. . . . no shipping charges on orders between now and July 31st. To get the free shipping coupon, enter code W2D4-06.
The pattern on the front page is mine!! Knit in Belfast. A cotton/linen blend that is great fun to knit and wonderful for summer knits.
I can’t wait to get my hands on some of her lace weight yarn. It sounds heavenly.
So check out one of my recent projects, the Uptown Sweater, and don’t forget–free shipping coupon for orders between now and July 31. (W2D4-06)