Category Archives: pattern design

Beach souvenir, and a Lantern Moon event

Posted on February 25, 2009 | 19 comments

I bought two skeins of Mirasol Hacho at Coastal Yarns in Cannon Beach, Oregon last year during Crafty Moms Weekend. It’s been sitting in my tiny stash, waiting to become socks. I love dk weight socks; they knit up so quickly.

When I first started swatching, I tried some lacy patterns, but the lace got lost in the variegated yarn. I thought about my entrelac socks like the ones Anna test knit for me with some Hacho last year (same yarn expedition).

But I wanted something different. This yarn definitely needs some stockinette to have an opportunity to sing. Here’s what I finally settled on:

I love the way this is knitting up. The ripples remind me of waves at the beach. Very fitting for a yarn from the coast!

I’m having a lot of fun making this up as I go, and I’m planning to write up the pattern when I’m done.

In local news, Lantern Moon is having an event at their warehouse next Thursday, March 5, 6:30 pm. There will be an opportunity to view January’s TNNA fashion show, local yarn shops showing what’s new and hot in the stores, Leigh Radford signing copies of her new book, AlterKNITS Felts, and refreshments. It’s also an opportunity to purchase Lantern Moon products at 20% off retail prices. Reservations are required; RSVP to diana@lanternmoon.com to let them know you’re coming. It’s no secret that I’m a big Lantern Moon fan; I’ll be there!

19 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged Knit, lantern moon, Mirasol Hacho, socks

Knitting around in circles

Posted on January 11, 2009 | 14 comments

Pippi 3 is off the needles.

It looks just like Pippi the first, right?

Almost! The Cashmerino Aran colors are really rich and and seem to glow. I wouldn’t call it Aran weight, though. It’s a very nice worsted. Note the slightly shorter earflaps. And now that I’m looking at the picture, I see that I used double crochet instead of half double crochet on the edging! Oops. I’m not a crocheter, really, and I mis-remembered how to do it. I like the way it looks, though. I love this pattern, but after three hats, I’m definitely ready to move on.

What next? I started my Athena for me.

Lest you think that I am in a rut (three of the same thing, and three of the same thing?), I have another thing in the queue after Athena:

My friend Susan gave me these Lantern Moon Sox Stix for Christmas. Size 2! I guess that means I need to knit some somewhat skinny yarn socks. I bought some Socks That Rock Mediumweight (still not ready for the really skinny stuff); this color is “Eggplanted.” There’s a KAL on Ravelry for the Leyburn Socks, so I’ll start with that idea and see if it flies.

14 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design, ravelry

Tagged cowl, earflap hat, entrelac, Knit, leyburn kal, neckwarmer, socks

Pippi pattern published

Posted on January 7, 2009 | 14 comments

How’s that for alliteration?

I finished the second Pippi hat, and took notes this time! I played around with earflap length and placement, and added a larger size. I just finished editing the pattern; it is available as a Ravelry download. See pattern page for details.

Good night!

14 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design, ravelry

Tagged earflap hat, Knit

New Year’s Day

Posted on January 2, 2009 | 13 comments

I spent part of New Year’s Day working on my log cabin blanket; I’m on the last planned color strip. I’m ready for this project to be done. I’ve enjoyed working on it, and it’s been cozy to sit under while knitting it. I know I’m not the only one who thinks so!

We had a little surprise snow last night/this morning. It was 1 a.m. I took a picture because it was so magical, and I was afraid that it would all be gone when I woke up.

Guess I didn’t need to worry. I’m glad we still have seed for the birds. (Can you identify this bird? I don’t know what it is, but it’s a regular visitor at the feeder. It’s kind of chubby and cute.)

I found this lone hydrangea bloom this morning.

I’m working on Pippi 2 today; the colors are very different from the first hat but I really like them, too! I’m writing the pattern this time. Still working from the stash. I’m using Plymouth Galway in navy and white, and the green and medium blue are KnitPicks Wool of the Andes.

Knit on!

13 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged Knit, log cabin blanket

Happy New Year!

Posted on December 31, 2008 | 14 comments

Here’s my last FO for 2008.

It’s the Head Hugger beanie from Ann Norling. I made it last night. I’m teaching a class at Twisted in February and again in April, Intro to Circular Knitting/Basic Hat. I needed a shop model/teaser for the class. This is a good basic hat pattern that a relative newbie can master, and then customize as they wish. Should be fun!

I was going to make a mosaic of all my 2008 FO’s, but organizing all the pictures was daunting. There are about 30, and I’m out of time. So instead, here are things that I’ve designed/written during 2008.

They are, from left to right, top to bottom: entrelac socks, felted slip stitch tote, log cabin baby blanket, zigzag lace pedi socks, stitch markers, checkerboard scarflet, Athena entrelac neck warmer, Pippi (pattern coming soon), and the square for the Afghans for Afghans afghan. Someday we’ll finish all those squares!

I started this blog in March, and it’s been way more fun than I anticipated. I started selling patterns on Ravelry and at Twisted this year, too, and that’s been a good experience. Thanks for coming along for the ride. Happy new year and happy knitting!

14 Comments

Posted in Blogging, Knit, pattern design, ravelry

Here’s Pippi

Posted on December 30, 2008 | 11 comments

The hat is finished! DH says I look like Pippi Longstocking in it, so Pippi is her name.

Crochet edging took care of the curling issues. I tried single crochet, but it didn’t have enough oomph to tame the curl, so half double crochet is the winner here. The hat is really fun to wear, even though I don’t wear hats.

Now I want to make it again, a little bigger, a few tweaks…but I have another project that I promised myself I would finish by New Year’s Day, so that one is first in line.

11 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged earflap cap, earflap hat, hat, Knit

Stashbusting improvisation

Posted on December 29, 2008 | 9 comments

Well, I didn’t make another pair of socks. I decided to try something else with the stash yarn.

What is it? Besides bright and cheery.

It’s trying to be an earflap cap. I’m designing as I go. I mostly like it. But I don’t like that the brim in front is flipping up. I should have started with some garter stitch at the edge.

The earflaps themselves tend to curl. That’s their nature, being stockinette stitch. I think some crochet around the edges will tame that problem. The flaps could also be about half an inch shorter, but I’m not going back to the beginning to change them!

I generally don’t wear hats; they mess up my hair. But after all the snow of the past couple weeks, I decided that a hat could be a good thing. Earflaps and some braids on the flaps would give some visual interest (pretend to be a hairstyle?); I think I’d like that better than a beanie.

First try at the crown shaping was not what I wanted, so I’m on the second attempt. It’s all trial and error here.

Happy new year!

9 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

More, more, more…Athena

Posted on December 19, 2008 | 6 comments

I finished my second Athena entrelac neck warmer last night. Purling back backwards (not turning the work each row) makes this go pretty quickly. But it looks like this Athena won’t be for me. She’ll be going on to her new life as a shop model. Shannon and Emily will be selling the hard copy pattern at Twisted, and they’d like a sample. Done! So I picked up more Taos and will make another one for myself, in a bit. Check out this color:

And I bought myself a little present for the next one: 16″ ebony circulars from Lantern Moon. Mmmmm, I love these needles. I didn’t realize that they made 16″ circulars, but now that I know, I had to get a few. Great tools make knitting even more of a pleasure!

I’m also dreaming of some quick worsted weight socks, because it’s cold and snowy, and my boots are just a tad big so there’s room. I think I’ll use some stash KnitPicks Wool of the Andes and make something fun with a color pattern, because I have a lot of bits of different colors left from other projects.

I guess I should be cleaning my house for Christmas, but if I clean it now, it will be messy by Christmas Eve. Maybe tomorrow!

6 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged Athena, cowl, entrelac, Knit, knitpicks, lantern moon, neck warmer, twisted

Sing a song of entrelac

Posted on December 16, 2008 | 13 comments

It’s finished! Introducing Athena, an entrelac neck warmer.

This yarn really lends itself to entrelac. I did try four other patterns, but ended up having to come up with something on my own. I knew I didn’t want to knit a long scarf; time was of the essence. I thought about knitting an entrelac scarflet, but I’ve only knit entrelac in the round, and didn’t feel like learning a new trick in a hurry (it’s just learning about side triangles for flat entrelac, but a mood is a mood). My next thought was a hat, but I didn’t think the intended recipient would wear a hat. And it would be floppy. I went to bed thinking about it, and the next morning I woke up with this neck warmer idea springing from my head. And I love the name Athena for it.

I did have to start it three different times. The fun of designing is making all the mistakes for you, so you don’t have to! The pattern is available as a pdf download for $5 US through Ravelry. See the pattern page for more information.

Here’s Carole with her new neck warmer!

13 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design, ravelry

Tagged crystal palace taos, entrelac, entrelac cowl, entrelac neck warmer, Knit

Humming along…

Posted on December 13, 2008 | 8 comments

The Taos project continues. The idea popped into my head as I was waking up the morning after I abandoned the Pioneer Braid. It wasn’t quite as cleanly executed as Athena springing fully formed from Zeus’ forehead, though. The first cast on was enormous! The second cast on, still pretty oversized. The third attempt appears to be spot on. It’s an entrelac project (yes, this yarn is perfect for entrelac!) so it’s hard to tell how large the project is going to be without working through at least two tiers of blocks. That’s a lot of knitting and ripping. But this yarn is a bit fuzzy, and ripping doesn’t adversely affect it at all. Thank goodness. No picture yet; it’s a surprise.

So what can I show you? Not Hey, Teach; she’s been languishing while I’ve been playing with Athena. How about something I found in my yard?

I think it’s a fungus, next to a weed and between some dead iris leaves. It’s so vibrantly orange! It caught my eye when I was leaving the house.

Oh, a bit of knitting news: I’m going to be teaching some classes at Twisted in February and March. I’m signed on to teach a class on basic hats in the round (will knit up a sample soon), and a class on my felted slip stitch tote! Schedule should be going up soon.