This showed up in the mail, just before the stay-at-home order took effect. Isn’t it gorgeous? It’s from Knit Circus; the sparkle gradient is The Knit Sky, and the speckle is Mistress of Myself.
I bought these with an idea in mind, something I’ve been dreaming about for a year or more. I’m finally ready to play with it. My initial swatching looks promising. A shawl, and it’s *not* brioche. I know, unbelievable!
More later. Gotta go knit.
My new Concentric Bed Socks are knit from the cuff down using a single strand of worsted weight yarn for a quick and cozy knit. You can use magic loop, 2 circulars, or double pointed needles; knitter’s choice! Alternating bands of knits and purls create a scrunchy fabric that traps warm air at the ankle. These Bed Socks are very similar to my Concentric Slipper Socks, which are knit double stranded. They’re perfect when you don’t need quite so much bulk and warmth.
The Concentric Bed Socks are sized for women, or a small man’s foot, based on the available yardage in Knit Circus’ Ringmaster Panoramic Gradient 50g cakes. They feature a contrasting heel and toe, which makes it possible to use just two matching 50g balls of gradient yarn for the ankle and foot.
This pattern is now available through Ravelry; link here. Want to knit both the Bed Socks and the Slipper Socks? See the Ravelry pattern page for special pricing. If you’ve already purchased the Slipper Socks pattern, the price for the Bed Socks pattern will be automatically adjusted for you.
These are a perfect treat for you to knit during January, aka Selfish Knitting Month. Or you could knit them for someone special, almost as special as you.
Cool factoid: This is my 13th pattern this year, and my 100th pattern on Ravelry!
Thanks to tech editor Amanda Woodruff, and test knitters Jacqueline Lydston, Denise Delagarza, and Ann Berg.
Happy new year!
Posted in cat, Knit, pattern design, yarn
It’s a race to the toe!
It’s a pleasure to knit these single strand worsted weight socks with Knit Circus Ringmaster Panoramic Gradient. The yarn has held up perfectly after frogging the Concentric Slipper Socks. The added bit of contrasting color for heels and toes means that I can make the cuff as tall and scrunchy as it needs to be. The pattern will have three sizes. It’s off to tech editor and test knitters now.
You’ll note that I’m back to magic loop. The Flexi-Flips were nice, but when I picked up the stitches for the gussets, I had more stitches than I felt comfortable with having on the short Flexi-Flips needles, and was afraid they’d go sliding off. I’m back to a 32” circular, and very happy. If the Flexi-Flips were just a bit longer, or if they came in a set of four, they would have been fine. Oh, well, they’ll be great for fingerless mitts!
I have quite a bit of knitting help here, from the helpful knitting cats.
Yadi wants to chew the cables.
Biscuit has become quite a lap cat.
Hope your Saturday is going well!
Posted in cat, Knit, pattern design, Product review, yarn
Tagged Concentric bed socks, flexi flips, KnitCircus, magic loop
Every in a while, a design idea comes together so easily, it just jumps off the needles.
This is the Concentric Cowl. I designed it in a wink, and the only thing that took any time at all was that I ripped it out when it was half done, because I wanted to add a secret between the purl welts.
There’s a tiny bit of lace in there.
It adds just a bit of mystery.
The cowl is knit in the round with 150g/277 yards of worsted weight yarn. I used a 150g cake of KnitCircus Ringmaster Panoramic Gradient in the Fig and Prosciutto colorway. The scrunchy rings capture warmth around your neck.
You can also unscrunch the rings and wear Concentric like a hood. The 150g jumbo cake of yarn makes it long enough to do so.
This pattern pdf is available through Ravelry; pattern page is here. It’s a quick and easy gift knit, even if the gift recipient is yourself! As always, newsletter subscribers have a coupon code for 20% off.
I’m teaming up with KnitCircus to do a kit for the Concentric Cowl in October, but if you can’t wait you can shop their ready to ship 150g Ringmaster Gradient cakes here. So gorgeous!
Oh, Labor Day! Farewell summer, welcome fall…
I ran away with my knitting last week. Good thing I brought more than one project; I lost at yarn chicken on this Mitered Crosses Blanket square. I just needed 2 more green garter ridges, probably about one yard of yarn. I considered using the red as an accent stripe, but it would have been too much. One garter ridge, yes. Two garter ridges? Christmas! I had to finish at home.
This is for a group blanket project through Mason Dixon Knitting. #mdkteamblanket2
My other project is a slipper sock. I’m using 4 50g balls of KnitCircus Ringmaster Panoramic Gradient (worsted weight), colorway Thanks for all the Fish, to double strand the socks. They are glorious. (Picture from KnitCircus site, since I forgot to take a picture before I started knitting.) I finished the first one at the coast. Good thing it was time to go home; I was out of knitting!
No real sneak peek on the sock yet; the excitement is on the cuff! I knit mine using the magic loop technique, and Biscuit thought that was pretty interesting when I tried it on. I’ll be looking for test knitters soon. Would you like to knit slipper socks? They’re really quick! This one took me one day.
It wasn’t all knitting last week. I love walking on the beach. This one was a solitary walk, just me and the seagulls.
I saw a lone sea star. Five years ago, there were hundreds of sea stars here. Sea star wasting disease killed many of them, but they’re starting to come back. I’m glad.
It was a perfect getaway.
Now I’m swinging into knitting season! I have several new designs coming soon. The first is this cowl, which is also designed with KnitCircus Ringmaster Gradient, this one in Fig and Prosciutto. Look for it later this week.
Fall brings more teaching opportunities, too. I’ve got my schedule mostly set at Twisted and For Yarn’s Sake; you can see it here.
There’s still room in my Favorite Shawl Shapes class at Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival (pre-register by Sept. 8).
And a few knitters’ spots left at our Nymphaea Fall Retreat (Nov. 9-11).
What are you knitting this fall?
Posted in classes, Knit, pattern design, travel, yarn
Tagged Cannon Beach, KnitCircus, mason dixon knitting, mdkteamblanket2
Remember the lovely gradient yarns I showed you this summer? Two of them turned into the Lobelia Shawl and Shawlette.
This is the Lobelia shawl in KnitCircus Thrilling, Starry Night. I used a 150g/575 yard skein and loved every inch of it. The continuous gradient shades gently through the lacy lobelia flowers. 150 grams makes a shawl you can really get cozy in.
But what if you only have a standard 100g/400 yard skein? This is the Lobelia shawlette in KnitCircus Greatest of Ease, Come What May, 400 yards. Not quite as big, but very lovely. Perfect when you need a little something.
Not into gradients? Lobelia also looks great in a semi-solid color.
This is the Lobelia shawl knit in Knitted Wit’s Shine in Tugboat, 50/50 Superwash Merino/Tencel.
These shawls begin at the lacy edging. The crescent is shaped with simple short rows. No wrapping at the turns is required. I’ve used this this shaping before, in my Ooh La Lace, Filigree, and Webfoot Shawls. This one is slightly modified from that classic shaping, in order to not run out of yarn before finishing the crescent shaping. I learned a new trick!
This pattern is available for $6 USD. Link to the Ravelry page is here. Pattern is 20% off with coupon code GRADIENT through November 7, 2015.
So, over the summer I knit three versions of this shawl, using 1385 yards. That’s more than 3/4 of a mile! And I have another gradient project in the works…mmmm, gradients!
Posted in Knit, pattern design, yarn
Tagged gradient, KnitCircus, knitted wit, Lobelia, Lobelia Shawl, shawl
Starfall
Ebb and Flow
Pooling is a Cinch
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Half the Knit Sky
Minerva Entrelac Cowl or Scarf
Syncopation
Sheepy Steeky Coasters
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Brioche Entree (free!)
Petite Brioche (free!)
Go Tell the Bees
Braided Wristlets
Summertime Blues
Thrumbelina Slippers
PDXKnitterati 