Chit Chatting Away

Oh the past week has been the usual whirlwind of places to be, things to do, patterns to release...and the next few weeks get even more filled with places to be, things to do...it's wedding and graduation season at Chez Yarn Diet!

So in an attempt to play catch up...

Announcing...

Just So Stories, How the Rhino Got His Skin!

Another pattern in my explorations of new and different things to do with that skein of self striping yarn you have had in your stash when it was "too pretty" to hide in your shoes!

This time around, Felici Worsted Weight makes for a thoroughly decadent, warm neck wrap!

Worked in bright colors, like the picture above, it makes a great statement piece, in subdued colors (like below) a more subtle cuddle.

Folded over, it is very much like the wrinkly skin of  a Rhino, with lots of little pockets to trap warm air and keep you cozy...pulled up, it is tall enough to cover your ears when the wind blows!

You can get the pattern on  Ravelry.

A year after it's initial debut on Knotions, Ashes of Roses has been released with extended endings and new line by line instructions for the previously charted only pattern.

This pattern, or rather the versions that other knitters have made, has, to my knowledge won three best in show awards at Fairs, raised money for charity, been worn to weddings...the list goes on!

Again you can get the pattern on Ravelry but also on Love Knitting!  (Of course the free version is still available on Knotions, so long as charts are your thing and you don't want the additional endings!)

(Side note, those additional endings...knitters who got the pattern and had extra gradient emailed me or private messaged me through Ravelry to see if I had them and I wrote them based on their yarn availability.  Never be afraid to ask..I think it's fun to help knitters get to use every possible inch of that special yarn!  And while I can't always fit that play into my schedule, if I can...you betcha I will!)

And on that note...I have a wedding to get ready for!

~M

Happy Easter

Coming on Thursday

Just So Stories

Innocence

Now available on Love Knitting and Ravelry

Let's Talk About Swatch For a Minute...

Let's talk about Swatch for a minute!
Well how do you think

 it feels about what's been going on?
Let's talk about swatch for a minute!
Well how do you think
it feels about what's gone wrong????...

 

Face it, every knitter at some point has said "My swatch lied!"

 

Well I, for one, am going to tell you that the poor (innocent) swatch didn't lie. 

 

 

Let's talk about dreams,
I never learned to read the signs.
Let's think about what it all means.....

 

Sometimes, when knitters swatch, they fool themselves by making the following rookie mistakes.... 

The swatch they made, wasn't made with the exact yarn and needles they planned for the project!  

Even a little thing like switching from blue to green or one needle brand to another (or even different length circular needles in the same brand) can change how the knitting behaves.

The swatch wasn't big enough!  If you are aiming for a gauge of (say) 32 stitches to 4 inches (10 cm) do not cast on 32 or even 42 stitches.  Cast on at least twice that many, and knit for at least half again as many rows for the row gauge.

The swatch has a border on it that the knitting project doesn't!  That pretty garter stitch border pulls the knitting to being more "square" than it will be with out it...Just say no to borders...unless...your finished project is going to have that *same* border.

The swatch was knit flat when the project is to be knit in the round...well there are ways to get around that one, but for me...if I am swatching for an in the round pattern, I swatch in the round.

And the worst mistake yet...Not swatching!

I never seem to have the time....

 

This past week all I seem to have knit are swatches!

 

Would you like to see some?

 

 

 I have one more on the needles...it might take the full 400 yards of sock yarn before I know if it will ever grow up to be anything!

How do you feel about swatching?

~M

 

Something to Talk About

But, it's Sunday...so no more words!

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lets-give-them-something-to-talk-about

Let's Hear it for the Shawl

A few days ago, the lovely Loraine of Woolly, Madly, Deeply interviewed me for her blog, which was a rather fun exercise for me!  She asked several questions that had me really thinking about what and how I design.

One of them was "What inspires you?"

I get inspiration from so many different sources that it was really hard to answer that question!  Let's look at this shawl (which coincidentally is my newest release with Knotions.

photo by Edsgar Portrait Studio for Knotions

Last year, everywhere I went, every home decor magazine and many pretty pictures I saw on Instagram, had planters that looked like old fashioned bird cages.  I adored the look, but try as I might, my black thumb meant that after a few weeks of having planters filled with pretty succulents or greenery, I had cages filled with dying leaves and brownery instead of greenery.

So, I decided to knit myself one. (Actually it turned into several!)

Aviarium started with my wanting to make something akin to this...

but in knitting!

The elements I really wanted to capture were the straight lines of both the upright bars and the bands around the cage, with the leaves and flowers peeking out from between them.

photo by Edsgar Portrait Studio for Knotions

But as any designer will tell you, one of the hardest things about designing a patterned shawl is figuring out how to get those increases into the pattern without interrupting what the patterning is trying to say. 

To solve that I combined two different types of shawl shaping...a regular progression of increases along the spines (the upright bars) and a large series of increases like you would find in a Pi-Shawl between the bands that run around the cage.

You would think that would be it...but it turns out that I had more to "say" about those birdcages and plants...there will be more of these types of patterns in different shapes (because those cages come in all sorts of shapes and sizes) over the next year!

You can get Aviarium from Knotions or on Ravelry.

If you want to learn more about different shawl shapes, Shawl Star now includes 43 recipes for creating your own!  Using the affiliate link means I get a small percentage of the sales price, but you do not pay a single penny more for the ebook!

Until next time...Happy Knitting!

~M

When you say nothing at all

What's on my Needles

That was close

Stash Enhancement but not in stash for long.

New Shapes in Shawl Star

Buy Now with Affiliate Link

Hey Now...You're a Shawl Star

(Heads up, this post contains an affiliate link.  If you use it, you won't pay a penny more, but we here at Chez Yarn Diet will receive a small commission which helps keep the lights on!  All opinions expressed are my own, though!  Thanks for understanding!)

Last year, when Shawl Star (Knit Shawls like a pro!) came out, I was ever so excited to see 40 different shawl shapes.  So much of my own knitting and designing involves shawls, and working out where/how to put increases/decreases involves a lot of...time, math, swatching, frogging and re-knitting.  Having worked with Knotions for my own patterns, I knew, that whatever was in that e-book was going to be helpful and I was not wrong.

40 shawl shapes, from simple triangles, to hybrids, crescents and half circles with a couple of special shapes thrown in, but not just the recipe for how to achieve the shape!  Each one includes a Pros and Cons Section for example :

Crescent Worked Sideways:

Pros: "....ideal for maximizing your yarn ...."
Cons: "....it is less easy to create decorative borders..."

Then Elizabeth Felgate, the author, gives the formula for how to achieve the shape (for those math lovers!) and then a simply recipe (for the non mathy people!).

I am rather partial to the Special Shapes that are included...Logarithmic Spirals is destined to one day get cast on...I think in some Habu Textiles Copper Yarn, and hung as an art piece in the corner of my living room.

photo credit Mimz381 on Ravelry

I have referred to this book a lot in the past year, playing with shapes that turned into shawls and...heard recently that there will be new special shapes coming this Saturday!

As you, loyal reader, know...I like to work with Knotions and have a relationship built up with the editor...so...with a little gentle persuasion...I got a sneak peak at what is coming up and if you love knitting shawls as much as I do, you are going to be thrilled with the additional shapes that are coming. (Especially when you see that not only do you get the Pro's, Con's, Formula and Recipe...for some you get a link to a handy dandy calculator that does all the math for you!)

Here's where the affiliate link comes in....If you buy the original Shawl Star today...and you know you want to...when the new shapes come out on Saturday you will get them too! And if you do purchase, by clicking here...I'll get a small commission for cluing you in.

I was asked a while back who I would recommend this book to, by a friend, and my answer was "Everyone who knits shawls, but especially people who want to design their own!"

Knowing the how/why, formula and having a recipe to follow means that you can pick a shape and work out stitch patterns (or stick to a plain garter stitch shawl) without having to do the heavy lifting of working out the geometry.  And who knows...if you don't already design shawls having that heavy lifting done for you might have you designing your own and singing along...

"Hey now, you're a Shawl Star, get your knits on, go play
Hey now, you're a Shawl Star, get the pattern done and get paid."