Pattern Release: Spring Crinkle

I’ve been teasing you with pictures of this for a little while now, and I’m happy to say that today’s the day!  Emily from LMS Studio Arts and I have worked together in the past and she’s so much fun to collaborate with!

The Spring Crinkle Slouch was designed using some 50% Superwash Corriedale/50% Nylon yarn from LMS Studio Arts dyed in the Giddy Gherkin colorway.  I *love* this yarn.  I love this colorway.  I love that it’s mostly a solid with little tonal effects to it and specks of blue throughout. 

I love that the stitches are so well defined on two fairly different needle sizes.  I love that it has some grip and won’t fall off my head from being too smooth.  I love that it shows off the ribbing and the lace texture equally beautifully.

The pattern is now available on Ravelry, Etsy and Craftsy. 

Braided Slouch Class at Yarn & Coffee

The past two Saturdays I’ve spent at the cutest yarn store teaching some awesome knitters how to work cables!

We used my Braided Slouch Pattern as the foundation for the class so that in addition to learning how to work cables and clever decreases, the students also had a finished piece.

I love teaching in this store, the front sun room is perfect – there is enough space, a big table, perfect natural lighting and plenty of pretty things to look at.  Not to mention the coffee, pastries and yarn in the next room.

And all of the knitters learned how to cable, fix common mistakes and decrease in pattern!  I think that learning how to fix mistakes in a new technique is almost more important than learning the technique itself sometimes.

I had a really great time and I hope that the students did too, I could teach everyday and still be excited about it!  I love meeting new people and sharing what I’m passionate about, and I always learn something new too – new ways to explain different techniques, new ways to teach, new ways that different knitters think about or “see” the knitting – it’s so much fun!

Interested in taking my next class on stranded colorwork with my Fresh Chroma Slouch?  It’ll take place at Yarn & Coffee the first two weekends of May – I’ll have another post with more details soon!

New Pattern: Fresh Chroma Slouch

I have a new pattern for you all today!  Let me introduce the colorful, the cozy, the quick: Fresh Chroma!

Winter is about to that point where the grey and dreary days are getting old, I want color and new life but while the weather can’t get me that yet, my yarns certainly can. 

Using just about half a skein of Malabrigo’s new Rastita yarn in each of the bright colorways, this hat is a great one for a quick, satisfying project. There are so many great colors to choose from, I think a more muted palette would look fantastic too!  And did I mention how incredibly soft this yarn is? I want to sleep with it (not in a gross way, just a I-want-all-the-yarn-cuddles kind of way).

The stranded color work comes with a simple chart and would be great practice for someone just dipping their toes into the color world but wouldn’t bore experienced color workers either. 

More details can be found on Ravelry, Craftsy and Etsy!

FO Friday: Braided Slouch

I finished my second Braided Slouch shortly after the cruise we took on Sunday and I’m totally in love with it!  I love the color, first and foremost, but I love the drape and the weight, it sits perfectly on my long, straight hair.  I find that I look best in slouchy hats, they don’t give me as much hat hair, if I wear them all day, and because I have bangs it prevents them from getting squished over my eyes or tucked and odd-looking post-wear.

This hat was fun to knit a second time around, and even with sock yarn and smaller needles, it seems like it flew off! 

Linking up with Tami, as usual!  What did you finish this week?  Are there any patterns that you like to knit over and over again?

Christmas Gift Round Up 1: The Deathflake Beanie

My little brother is a quintessential 21 year old male.  He skates, he snowboards, he goes to college and works his butt off holding down a job or two on the side.  He likes all things that are “cool” but totally stands out in his own way.  There was no doubt in my mind that this would be the perfect motif for him.

I wanted to make him something that would keep him warm while snowboarding, was unique but not *too* out there.  Something functional but not boring.

Originally I’d wanted to just do two colors, the darker and lighter blues but ran out of the lighter blue two rounds before the colorwork ended.  I had to rip back and with the help of my mister, decided to keep the skull in the light blue while starting the new “flaky” part in a rusted brown/orange color to finish off the beanie.

I used stash yarns, acquired long ago probably in the mix of pounds and pounds and pounds of fiber scored in a thrift store who didn’t know the gem contained with the 5 (five!) garbage bags I left with.  When the hat was complete, I added a crocheted border and braids at the bottoms of the earflaps.  More Ravelry details here.

After the knitting was done all that was left to worry about was whether or not it fit.

It fits!

More gift knitting round ups to come!

Gift Knitting

The hat is done, it gets it’s own story and blog post, it wasn’t without a few complications but it turned out well I think.

I just hope it fits the recipient and that he wears it often.

The other gift is almost complete and must be all the way finished before I head south on Friday.  I don’t see any further complications with this one.

It looks as if I picked just the right colorways and amounts of each yarn, judging on the miniscule amount of yardage leftover:

How is your gift knitting coming along?

WIP Wednesday

I’ve got so much to do, samples to finish, things to edit and yet somehow, some way, I’m finding myself working on gift projects too.

Because I can’t show you the samples or the edits, I’ll share some of the gift projects that are on the go.

A hat for a certain little brother:

Some of these for my squeeze:

I’m pretty sure the former doesn’t read the blog, but I know the latter one checks it out on occasion, so skip to the project page for that one to see a smidge more detail.

Now, I need to put the gifts away and work on workstuff. After this row…

Linking up with Tami

A Hord of Vikings

Since I released the Viking Helmet Pattern, it swiftly became my best seller.  I want to thank each and every one of you who has bought a pattern from me at any time, I appreciate the support and you’re allowing me to continue doing something that I love to do!  I’m hoping to make a career out of this and each time I sell a pattern, it brings me closer to my goal.

Ok, enough with the sappy, back to The Hord.

I really do enjoy (as I’m sure many other designers do) seeing pictures of other knitters’ versions of my patterns!  Here I’m showcasing a few of the Vikings, for more click through to the pattern page.

Viking Princess!

by ebargoum

she wore it to the game!

by cahalvorson

he won the costume contest

by legknits

FO Friday: A few small things

Although I’ve been too busy to blog much, I have been knitting lately!  This week I’m just sharing a few recent FOs that have been added to the pile for things for upcoming shows, I have to stay stocked!

slouchy, earthy beanie

It’s also a really fun and efficient way to use up leftovers and random stash inhabitants.

can you see the dragon on that Etcha-Sketch? it’s crazy!

So, for those of you aren’t of the knitting variety, I’ll be having periodic shop updates to add these items, or you can come see them at a few craft shows this season!  Knitters, I’ll be back soon with more design-oriented content

These fun scarves are great for a burnt out mind

Linking up with Tami as usual!

Beared Viking Helmet Pattern – Released!

I’ve been waiting a long time to finally bring you guys this pattern and today’s the day!

Insta-Make-Over

The hat is great for using different yarn weights, needle gauges and techniques and none of the pieces are extremely difficult to make.  It would make a great introductory project for bobbles and short rows and it gives you the cutest finished project

Don’t forget to invite the Vikings to your next BBQ

Perfect for the upcoming gift-giving season, perfect for treating yourself and perfect for creating your own Halloween costume that will keep you warm!

What if your boss were a Viking?

The pattern and more details are available on Ravelry, Craftsy and Etsy (and if you don’t knit but want your own, check this out!).

Time for a nap