Did You See? A not silent post

Late Friday afternoon was pretty exciting day for me...my latest pattern was published on Knotions!

My most ambitious charting/designing project yet, The Root of One drew its inspiration from two sources; the notebooks that early naturalists would carry with them while exploring the world with their hand written notes and hastily, yet incredibly detailed, drawings of plants and animals and old fashioned traditional knitted doilies.

I love knitting doilies, but don't actually use them for anything.  They just sit in a box, hopefully not, collecting dust.  But a shawl that hugs my shoulders and doesn't need a shawl pin to stay put is something that I will always reach for!

Before you click the "buy now" button on either Ravelry or Knotions, I would like to suggest the subscription button (only on Knotions).  Not only do you get that pattern, but all the patterns in the issue and a ton of tutorials!  (Some of which I might have suggested to the editor as things that I think that knitters would be interested in learning or having a tutorial on.)

As always, working with Knotions and their team (tech editor, photographer and model) is a joy!

Photo credit for all but the first picture goes to Kellie Nuss Photography, modeled by the fabulous Maureen Nicholl, doesn't she look happy in that final picture?)

 

Until next time....Knit Happy!

 

~M

Lasciel

If you are a fan of The Dresden Files books, you already know the name, but for those who aren't...

Lasciel, also known as the Seducer, the Webweaver, and the Temptress, is a Fallen Angel and a member of the Order of the Blackened Denarius. 

 

This top down triangle shawl, like Lasciel, tempts the knitter into trying new things!  Beads that cover multiple stitches, nupps, nupps worked with beads to start them, or end them! 

I used a light fingering yarn from Colourmart for my sample in a simple white with two sizes of blue beads.

67.5 inch wingspan with a 35.5 inch drop (168 cm by 88.75 cm)means it is generously sized enough to wrap gently around you, or, pin it in your hair and have a marvelous veil!

Lasciel starts with a provisional cast on and garter tab, specialty stitches are explained after the finishing instructions and all instructions are provided in both chart and fully written forms.

 
While gauge is not critical to the piece, individual choices in yarn, needle and gauge will affect final yarn requirements and sizing.

Available now on Ravelry and Payhip, soon on Love Crafts!

#AloneTogether

The world is a very different place than it was when two designer friends and I worked #AloneTogether to create an unusual shawl for Knotions, but the timing seems very appropriate for the publication.

photo by Kellie Nuss Photography for Knotions.

Let me start by introducing you to the other two parts of the team!

Linette Grayum has had several patterns published in Knotions, but I originally "met" her in the Indie Gift Along when I worked on one of her hat patterns as one of my projects.  She and her family travel around the US in a tiny camper and her designs are usually inspired by nature.  You can see some of her travels on Instagram.

Tanja Luescher has also had several patterns published in Knotions.  I'm not sure if we "chatted" during the Gift Along, but we both belong to another group on Ravelry that is "chat heavy" so I have got to know her quite well!  I made her International Cowl this past year and loved it!  She, her husband and her cats live in Switzerland.  You can see more of her knitting and a few pictures of her cats on Instagram.

Together, but apart, we created a shawl that is knit in five segments.  Each of us knit our own sample segments, then I knit theirs to seam together with mine and send to the photographer. A group project, but the individual members of the group never met in person.

Perfect for an #AloneTogether knit along if you would like,Galaxy Traveler takes you on a journey across the galaxy, with a spacethip that takes you past stars and comets to the black hole at the center of the Milky Way.  You can knit all the segments, pick your favorites and mix and match five panels or knit with your friends (Alone or Together) to create a truly unique to you shawl.

Available now from Knotions and on Ravelry!

Tomorrow I will tell you all about the second shawl I have in this issue of Knotions...

Until then, remember...times are hard, but you can do hard things, be kind to each other and knit on!

~M

The Year That Was and Things to Come

Like many people, at the end of last year I looked back at what I how I had filled 2018.

It was  a year filled with wonderful things and sad events, changes big and small.

Design wise, I published 20 patterns in 2018, including my first graded garment!

The rundown, in case you missed any are:

Techno Punkies

Spring's Around the Corner











 My April Fools Pattern : Truth, Fallacies and Statistics.

Ashes of Roses, which you can get free from Knotions.com

Callie's Braids

 Smocked Leaves, another Free Pattern on Knotions.com

 A Shawl/Scarf in three sizes, Somebody Told Me, again free to you from Knotions.

 Team Knit

 Philadelphus...hey look at that, you can get it for free on Knotions!

And back to Knotions I went with Sweetened Footies.

How the Tiger Got its Stripes

 A Trio of Holiday Patterns

 A Sprinkling of Leaves, from Knotions.

Photo from Edsger Studios for Knotions.

My fundraising pattern for the year...Cradle Song.

Which supports Arion Chamber Music

Pourquoi, exploring shawls and "humps"

Cowl Trick....reversible color changes without the pesky purl bumps in the wrong color!

Once more I went back to Knotions with Schlumbergera

Photo from Edsger Studios.

And my final 2018 pattern...Norma Jeanne

While usually with goal setting the typical answer is do more, I don't see that level of production being sustainable for the long haul, although I have several things ready for test knitting, some ready for editing and two new things on my needles right now!

Family wise it was a very busy year!  Between class and work schedules it felt like we were all coming and going all the time, but we made time to do some fun things together.  (Funnily enough most of them involved fiber arts in one way or another.)

We made our annual trips to the Mid Ohio Fiber Fair and Wool Gathering, and have agreed they both go on the list of things we want to do again this year.

This year will also see growth and change in the family.  Graduations and new job ventures for the kids, of course more knitting and crafting for me!  Who knows, I might even get back into the routine of blogging consistently!

Until next time....Happy Knitting!

~M

So Much to tell you about

It's been a busy week!

First up, the beta knitting for a cowl was just about finished so I decided to go ahead and hit publish for a new cowl pattern. 

People sometimes ask what inspires someone to design a particular piece and for me, very often the answer is that I have a "pain point" to solve.

This time around the pain point was I want to knit myself a color block, fully reversible wrap that is seamless.  (And of course being me, I also wanted it in lace weight yarn with reversible lace patterns too!)

Changing colors in knitting usually leads to a row of unslightly bumps in the "old" color. So I spent a bit of time trying to figure out how to get rid of that on the "wrong" side of the work.

But, who wants to figure that out on a 45 by 65 inch wrap, in laceweight?  (Spoiler, not me!)

So I grabbed two contrasting aran weight yarns and starting playing!

And thus was born  Cowl Trick!

You can purchase that pattern in my Ravelry Store by clicking here.

But wait, that's not all!

I am again thrilled to be included in a "special" issue of Knotions! The Sock Issue!  My contribution  is based on a houseplant!

Schlumbergera is probably the only houseplant that I have that I managed, somehow, to not kill!  In fact I have several because they seem to thrive on the balance of neglect and overwatering I give them!

Schlumbergera is a small genus of cacti with 6-9 species found in the coastal mountains of south-eastern Brazil.  But you probably know them as a Thanksgiving, Easter or Christmas Cactus!  With flowers in red, orange, pink and white, this easy-to-grow and -propagate plant is found in many homes, including mine!

Worked in three (or more!) colors, these top-down socks morph from slipped-stitch colorwork to comfy ribbing. Only one color is used at a time. The flowers take very little yarn, so dig out those little 15 gm scraps and put them to good use.

 

You can get your copy of these socks and some other truly lovely designs on Knotions


But wait...there's more!

Coming soon to Ravelry....The sixth annual Indie Designer Gift Along!  But I will tell you more about that this coming week!

~M

My Indecisive Heart

When is a triangle not a triangle? When is a crescent not a crescent? When is pi-shawl shaping not part of a pi-shawl? When you combine the three!

 When I could not decide between a triangle, crescent, or half circle shawl, my indecisive heart drew its shaping from all three. Starting with a provisional cast on, with a strong center spine (like a top down triangle shawl), moving through crescent and pi-shaping, this shawl combines my favorite elements of all three shapes! 

 

Easy to wear and easy to knit. The twisted garter, when heavily blocked, gives the body a mesh like appearance, and the simple lace border flows into a crochet chained bind off.

My version is knit in Unplanned Peacock Pima, a very soft cotton yarn, that blocks like a dream and makes for a perfect "I need a little something but don't want to get too warm" shawl.

You can get this, and all of my patterns in my Ravelry Store!

Today's the Day!

 

When my boys were little, one of their favorite television shows was Blues Clues.  There was a movie about Blue putting on a musical production with all her little friends and one of the songs started "Today's the Day!"....I have that song running through my head now having typed that in the subject line!

But...that isn't what I wanted to tell you about.

What I wanted to tell you was...  Today's the Day!

The Day that...

Ain't She Sweet Footie Socks are officially available in my Ravelry Store!

To put another earworm in your ear...
 

“Ain’t she sweet?  See her walking down the street…” 

I love hand knit socks, no matter what time of the year; both knitting and wearing them. What better to wear during the warm weather than flirty little footies? These cuff down socks start with a larger cast on to allow the cuff to turn and skim the tops of your shoes, and continue with a slipped stitch heel and gusset with ribbing on the top of the foot for the perfect fit. “Now I ask you very confidentially, ain’t she sweet?” (Ain’t She Sweet, is a song composed by Milton Ager with lyrics by Jack Yellen circa 1927, and has been rerecorded by many artists including the Beatles.)

These socks are presented in not only two different sizes, but with two (related but) different cuffs.

 

The striped version shows the shorter, skimmer cuff and the hot pink version shows the longer, flirtier version. 

Both use fingering weight yarn and US size 1 needles (that is 2.25mm for my metric friends) and depending on your foot size it might be possible to get both socks from a single 218 yard (199 meter) skein of sock yarn.  (Buy a second though, you don't want to be half a toe short of a pair of socks and there might be another pattern coming very soon that could use that stray skein of yarn!  Just saying!)

No charts for this pattern, it is all line by line written instructions.