Solarita

I was thinking of the sun, margaritas, and very warm, autumnal shawls when I designed this crescent wrap. I'm even cold in the summer sometimes. Especially after dark, or in late August when the weather starts to shift. Thinking of the summer sun setting as I sit outside with friends, chatting and watching the sky change color - this is when I start to shiver and look for something warm like the sun.

So I drew up a shawl like the setting sun in my sketchbook. It has a bold border with triangles and finger-like fringe. I found another use for my crazy stripe stitches that did not need color changes to show up. 

Surprisingly, the finished shawl looks almost exactly like the drawing, That rarely works out so well.

The yarn is Brooklyn Tweed Loft, a very springy yarn with bright flecks of orange and green undertones.

The best part is that it matches my favorite (only?) formal dress. No more cheap ugly cardigans or cold arms.

If you are interested in this pattern, you can check it out on Ravelry or buy it here.

Petal cowl pattern

A while ago, I made a post about some swatches that I was developing into patterns. Well, today I am publishing the first of my crazy stripe patterns.

Petal is a cowl designed to highlight the color shifts of a self striping yarn. The stich shapes are inspired by flower petals, fish scales, and vintage crochet afghans. A great summer knit, or a cold weather project when made in heavy yarn. A unique stitch is used to create an extra long chevron motif which set this cowl apart.
 

Finished Size: 10” (26cm) wide and 40” (100cm) around.

Yarn: 1 skein of Noro Taiyo Sock (shown in color 59), Silk Garden Sock or 462 yards of self striping fingering weight yarn. Gauge can be adjusted to work with any weight yarn.

Needles: Size 5 (3.75mm) 32”circular needles, or size needed to obtain gauge.

Gauge: 36 sts and 18 rounds in patt = 5 x 5” (12.5 x 12.5 cm) square.

Other Materials: 1 marker, sewing needle, pins, damp cloth, and iron for blocking.

Instructions are for fingering weight yarn, but are adjustable for any stitch count or gauge. I cannot wait to make this in Kureyon for winter.

Feather Flame Pattern

Feather Flame is a chevron patterned scarf knit on the bias.  It has a scalloped edge and a slight curve that makes it easy to wear. The stitch pattern can be scaled to fit any gauge and yarn weight. Self  striping sock yarn gives definition to the waves of the flame stitch pattern.

Instructions are given in both chart and written form. Difficulty is intermediate, you need to know about increasing and decreasing using a few techniques but all are explained in the pattern. 

Yarn: 1 skein Lion Brand, Sock-Ease Prints, 438 yards (401 meters) shown in Red Hot,
or any fingering or sock weight yarn.

Needles: Size 6 (4mm) straight needles.

Gauge: 24 stitches and 32 rows in a 4 x 4” (10 x 10cm) square in pattern stitch.

Other Materials: Row counter, sewing needle, stitch holder.

Finished size: Approx 60 x 8” (152 x 20 cm)

You could definitely use any wight yarn with this pattern and change the number of repeats to get the  width you desire, striping sock yarn just happens to be a great way to show off the flame stitch pattern without using multiple colors to create stripes. That said, the pattern still looks nice in solids.

I hope you'll give it a try. The pattern is now on sale in my ravelry store or you can buy it here, use coupon code spring14 to get a 50% discount for the rest of March.

Fingerscarves Finally

Did you ever wonder what would happen if a pair of gloves and a scarf had a child? What would happen if you just reached into your scarf every time your fingers were cold?
Well this is the answer to those questions that you never actually asked.

It took only 2 years to put aside time to actually edit and publish this pattern, does anyone even remember it?

How could you forget a scarf that has fingers.

Carroll for Clotheshorse Magazine

I'm really excited to say that my first pattern made for a magazine is out. Clotheshorse magazine has published this color blocked sweater with set in sleeves and slimming side panels in a contrasting color.

Find it on Clotheshorse Mag

It's a style that is everywhere often seen on dresses, the color blocking creates the illusion of a slimmer waist. You can also see it in my prototype of the sweater, the dark sides definitely create an optical illusion.

I also did the trim in a different color and added a few short rows in the bust because I'm not a standard XS in the bust area. You can see the side stripe on the extra small is thinner, it's proportional to the size.

Double mustard reversible cabled scarf

I found this basic single ply wool at the craft store in bright mustard yellow and could imagine how a long cabled scarf would look - perfect for windy days. Cabled scarves are really nice to have in winter because they are thick and warm and really keep out the cold.

The only problem with my dream of the perfect cabled scarf is that I really dislike things that curl or look bad on one side. The solution is to make the cables reversible, its a little tricky to figure out upon first glance, but they are much easier to knit than they are to imagine.

paper + cashmere scarf

Yes, paper yarn, and you can knit it.

The story of this scarf starts a year and a half ago when I visited the Habu Textiles showroom in NYC. I had already experienced their stainless steel yarn and wanted another one of their strange but simply beautiful and tactile creations.

Shosenshi Linen Paper

           p a p e r 

The samples in the showroom were amazing, the yarn creates a stiff almost spongy fabric that can be creased but otherwise retains a somewhat self supporting structure. You need to feel it to get it...

 A few months later, when I moved to Boston, Shosenshi was one of the few yarns that I took from my stash (most was in storage) because it needed to be used, but it is a tricky fiber to find an application for. 

 
That's when I came across Shalimar Breathless, a cashmere blend, in a coordinating color. Together they became this scarf, possibly the only thing I've knit that works both as a scarf on a chilly winter walk and a wrap for a black tie event. 

The result is a luxurious wrap that has a great stiff texture along the edges, but uses some of the softest where the shawl touches your skin. 

It is all about the textures, I'm just not a good enough writer to describe it, maybe a poet could. 

 Buy the pattern here or view the details on ravelry.

l i m e s t o n e cowl

A few weeks ago, I went on a field trip to Purl NYC to get some Cascade Magnum yarn. They had a whole bunch of pretty Manos del Uruguay colorways out including a dayglow yellow color called Highighter. It really reminds me of the color of mountain dew in the sunlight. I bought 2 skeins, The Highlighter and Foil- a light grey with a touch of lavender. They looked wonderful together, and it didn't take long to develop a cool stitch pattern that showed off the contrast.

This one turned out kind of nicely and had cool horizontal stripes on one side and a kind of moss stitch on the other.

It turned into a very nice cowl. Even though the Maxima is wool, it is very soft against the skin. I will be wearing this one all summer in spite of the heat and then all winter.

If you like this cowl and want to make one, You can get the pattern on ravelry or Buy it here!

Thick & Thin

Juxtoposition of different textures and materials has always fascinated me. I always wondered if there was maybe a way to knit something using two seamlessly joined thicknesses of yarn.

This new pattern set explores the possibilities of using two very different gauges to make one piece.

The effect is subtle, but visible enough to be interesting.

 

The pattern includes a scarf and a hat

The hat is sized for a teen-adult (18-20") or an adult large (21-23").

The scarf is nice, it is 50" long and uses a full skein of lanaloft worsted and a half skein of lamb's pride burly spun.

If you like the pattern you can buy it via ravelry.

☥ GET SPELLBOUND ☥

I was listening to spellbound by Siouxie and the Banshees and had this idea for something punk-ish and cropped.

Spellbound is a summery tee with a laddered v-neck which can be worn in the front or the back. The alternate side is a plain crew neck. It is knit in two pieces with shaping in the shoulders. The silhouette is inspired by an old cutoff tee, well worn and loved. Instructions for a longer, fitted, babydoll style bodice are included as well.

Bust Measurement (from body, sizing is based on this): XS (30-32”), S (34-36”), M (38-40”), L (42-44”)

Width: XS (14”), S (16”), M (18”), L (20”)
Length: XS(19”), S ( 19.5”), M (20”), L (20.5”)

Yardage: XS-580, S-680, M-780, L-890 Add 70 yards if using alternate bodice.

Yarn: Patons Grace or another sport weightcotton. See chart for yardage allow an additional 70 yards for alternate bodice.

Needles: Size 6 (4mm) needles.

Gauge: 22 stitches and 28 rows for a 4” square of stockinette stitch.

Other Materials: Row counter, sewing needle, 2 stitch holders, 2 markers.

 buy it on ravelry

you.knit.lamps

Eight months ago, I posted a few pictures of a lamp that I made out of felt. There was a pretty big response from people who wanted to make lamps too, but there were also a lot of questions about fires and electrical wiring.

It took a bit of work, but with motivation from a really ugly bedside lampshade, help from the ravelry free testers group, and photography and some proofreading from my mother, there is now a way for others to knit similar lumpy lampshades.

All of the danger and live wires have been excised and replaced with safety and standardization. It may sound much less exciting, but it allows me to publish a pattern that fits the needs of all sorts of people with all sizes of lamp without an overbearing fear of fires and lawsuits.

The  pattern is for a textured felt lamp shade in multiple sizes and matching pillows in two sizes, the pillows do not light up.The lamp shade can be sewn over a preexisting shade or a handmade frame. DIY instructions for a metal lamp shade frame are included in the pattern as well as a lesson in lamp anatomy and safety.

The pillows are 10" x 16" and 16" x 16".
The shade fits a 6"-18" diameter drum shade with a height of 11". The height is adjustable.
Patons Classic Wool in color Aran is shown in all pictures.

Some of the skills needed for this pattern are non knitting related. It just wouldn't be fair to keep them secret, so I'm posting them here so that everyone can decide whether they want to put in the extra effort to make the lampshade themselves. The following images show the skills and materials needed to make a lampshade from scratch. These images are also included in the pattern PDF.

If you aren't into this sort of crafting , keep in mind that using a store bought lamp shade and making a pillow do not require any of these extra steps.

You've now seen everything but the actual knitting instructions so there are no unwanted surprises (I'm very OK with people using these lampshade frame instructions to come up with their own projects as long as I get credit for creating the files).  It's a fun project for the adventurous crafter and is very rewarding. You have to actually feel the texture to know how rewarding it really is.

The pillow is perfect for petting.

You can find the pattern on ravelry for $8.00 or get it right here.


If you are not a knitter but are interested in this product: I am able to produce a limited number of pillows and lampshades depending on my schedule. Contact me with your needs for pricing info.

Drop Top

I just finished making this pattern for this drop sleeve sweater. Most knitters aren't too into drop sleeves because of the overly simple shape and associations with oversized '80s sweaters, but they are really popular this year with high end brands. After seeing skinny armed sweaters everywhere, I decided to try making one out of some orange cotton leftover from a failed sweater.

It is my new summer favorite, even though the weather hasn't even changed yet. The body is oversized, hiding any areas of self consciousness that you may have. Those with a well defined waist can tuck it into their pants to show their shape. It doesn't add bulk to your silhouette like most slouchy sweaters because the sleeves fit your arms and the scoop neck shows off your collarbones.

I'm not at all broad shouldered person, but the seaming visually evens out bottom heavy people like me by drawing the eye up and to the shoulders. The shoulders actually have shaping to keep your dropped sleeves from making your shoulders look like they're melting.

I used Debbie Bliss Cotton DK, which is somewhere between a DK and worsted weight. Cotton is relatively cheap, and I'm very curious about the use of Sugar'n Cream / Peaches & Creme yarn in this gauge. They might make a really nice substitute for under $20. The size small only took me about 12 hours to knit, and required very little attention during the body section.

This pattern is currently free for those willing to test. If you're interested in testing, you can contact me via this thread in the Ravelry forum Free Pattern Testers group.

This pattern is currently for sale in my ravelry shop, CHECK IT!

Easy

This is an easy pattern to knit, so it is called Easy.

It is knit flat in one piece, then seamed together to make a sweater. The pattern is very basic and well suited for a beginner who is willing to try simple color work. The shrug features short, dolman sleeves, an open front, and vintage styling. My favorite part is the contrast trim which allows for a lot of color possibilities. I like to play around with color combos, so it was fun to pick out two coordinating yarns. I actually didn't have the red that I wanted, so this heathered poppy color was hand dyed. The recommended yarn for this pattern is Knitpicks Palette, so I'm sure everyone will find a combo they like.

I made a point of making this to fit all ages. You can see my cousin wearing her easy shrug in a size 2. Knitting the small sizes was so fast! This was done in Lang Bebe superwash, which has a similar weight to Palette and is also machine washable. The children's sizes are almost identical to the adult so there is a lot of potential for matching family sweaters. The one difference is that the women's sizes do have some bust shaping.

The shortrow bust shaping is a little above the beginner level, but it keeps the sides from going towards the armpits. I'm personally not a big fan of wearing shrugs because the sides always seem to scoot over and I feel like by boobs are sticking out. The added rows help the sides graze over the bust in order to not create that "bearing my breasts" look.  

Hopefully you can get an idea of the fit from these photos. Someone in the ravelry forums recently suggested sharing model size when showing a pattern, so in the interest of full disclosure... Model is 5'6 and 120 lbs. Bust - 34 Waist - 26.

Here is some of the sizing and yarn info for the pattern:

Sizes: Children - 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16
Adult - XS, S, M, L, 1X, 2X

Chest Measurement: Children - 21, 23, 25, 26.5, 28, 30, 31.5, 32.5
Adult - 28-30, 32-34, 36-38, 40-42, 44-46, 48-50

Yardage (color A/B): Children - 180/50, 210/50, 250/60, 330/60, 410/70, 460/70, 490/80, 520/80
Adult - 540/90, 570/90, 590/90, 620/100, 650/100, 700/110

Finished Length: Children - 10.5, 11.5, 12.5, 14.5, 16, 17, 17.5, 18
Adult - 18, 18.5, 18.75, 19.5, 20, 21

Sleeve Length from Neck: Children - 8.5, 9.25, 10.5, 12.5, 13.75, 14.5, 15.25, 15.75
Adult - 15.75, 15.75, 16, 16, 16.25, 16.25

Help fund my acquisition of a knitting machine! Easy is available for sale in my Ravelry store for only $4.