Spring's Sprung

I was honored to be asked by the Madison Knitters' Guild to design a project for their 2017 Knit-In event.  Of course, the design had to be hush, hush until its premiere at the picnic luncheon on Saturday, March 18th.  I kept my lips zipped, but am happy to chat about it now.

The guild's only request was that the design tie into a theme of 'flower power'.  That still left me with plenty of options.  So, I thought about the time of year and decided that by mid-March, everyone needs a little color in their life.  However, we do live in Wisconsin, so winter is definitely not over and there is definitely time to work a new warm accessory into your wardrobe.  A hat seemed to me to be just the ticket.  I also reasoned that the hat should be part of the activities of the luncheon.  If the hat were multi-colored, and the colors were mix-and-match, then knitters could trade colors if the combination they received in their kit was not their favorite.

Mix this all up together, and you get Spring's Sprung. The stranded color work is simple enough for a knitter new to the technique as only a few rows require catching floats and there are never more than two colors in a row.

Although the pattern is now posted to Ravelry, it will be exclusive to party attendees until April 1st.  After that it will be available to purchase for $4.

Friday Freebie: BlueGrill Scarf & Hat

BlueGrill Hat & Scarf

Welcome to the fourth weekend of Friday Freebies.  This week's offerings are a throwback to one of my favorite patterns, windowpane plaid, and my favorite technique for achieving it, applied crochet chain.

Inspired by this Missoni design, BlueGrill is a matching hat and scarf set.  The bright blue color on a variegated background is a great fashion statement.  Fortunately, Cascade's 220 Superwash Effects yarn in color 02 gives that effect that adds so much interest, and at a really reasonable price, too.  Of course, you could choose a classic color combination, such as navy and red or black and white for a more traditional look.

The knitting technique at play here is applied crochet chain.  It is simple enough to knit the horizontal plaid stripes in as you go, but it is hard to knit in the vertical stripes.  Unless, that is, you don't mind wrangling eight bobbins every row.  The crochet chain is worked into a channel of purl stitches after the scarf or hat is finished, and it is fast and smooth.  If this makes you nervous, the pattern has links to both a video tutorial and my picture tutorial here on the blog.  I've taught this crochet chain dozens of times, and the feedback is always that it is surprisingly easy.

The BlueGrill hat and scarf patterns are sold separately.  This weekend the scarf pattern is offered for free and the hat is half price.  So, the combined set is available for 75% off the regular price of $3.00 each.

Friday Freebies has been so much fun that I am going to extend it one more weekend into February.  So come back next week for another new pattern.  This one will be completely different.  (Well, still an accessory, but in a technique I have never designed in before now.)

Have a great week!

Friday Freebie: MoreEnds

MoreEnds done with a gradient kit

Welcome back for the third Friday in January 2017 and my third new pattern of the year.  I believe I have something novel here - the first pattern that begs for more yarn ends.  Stripe away, use up all your fingering weight scraps and it only makes your hat better.

MoreEnds done with leftovers in even stripes

My inspiration for MoreEnds came as I was developing a new class on dealing with yarn ends.  This primarily meant tricks for weaving in ends, but I did want to include the old Fair Isle technique of gathering the many, many yarn ends into a braid that ran along the side seam inside the sweater.  As I was thinking about this, I wondered about rather than hiding the braid, what if it was a feature?  Put it on the outside of the garment.  And, what if it also could serve another functional purpose (besides securing loose yarn ends)?  What if it decoratively gathered the hat fabric into a ruched side?  A little knitting later, and I had a fun hat.

MoreEnds allows for lots of knitter creativity.  Have a decent amount of a few colors?  Knit regular stripes and braid by color.  Have lots of little bits of yarn (and who doesn't)?  Go crazy with random stripes using up every bit.  The only rule is that they have to make it all the way around.










Begin with a provisional cast on and knitted band for maximum stretch, minimum (no) purling and and easy way to hide that initial yarn end.  Knit round and round, changing yarns at will until it's time to decrease.  When all the knitting is done, tidy up your yarn ends by working them into a braid, trim it up, and your're done!

Get this pattern for free during its introductory weekend, Friday, January 20th through Sunday, January 22nd at midnight Central time.

Friday Freebie: So Steek'n Simple

Last Friday saw a very successful launch to my 'Friday Freebies' for the month of January.  My updated and revised entrelac hat pattern, All Squared Up 2 had 4,346 downloads.  Fingers crossed today's freebie will be as successful.

So Steek'n Simple is the project for you if you've always wanted to try steeking (cutting into your knitted fabric) but were afraid to try (and who isn't?).  Mohair yarn is the fiber to choose for steeking because it clings to itself with a nearly unbreakable bond.  (That also makes it hard to rip, but that's another story.)  As a result, all your cut ends really don't want to go anywhere but where you tell them to stay.

So what's the benefit of steeking this project?  The body of the shawl can be knit in the round, avoiding any nasty purl stitches.  And, you can change colors as often as you like because all those yarn ends will be cut away.

I forgot to mention that this pattern makes either a shawl or a scarf.  Start out with a scarf and if you have more yarn and more ambition, keep going until you hit shawl width.

So Steek'n Simple is a great project to use up any scraps of silk and mohair lace weight yarn you may have about the house.  What if you don't have any?  Buy a couple different colors and knit simple repeating stripes, or work the ribbing in a different color than the body, like the gray and black scarf.

I hope you'll like this new design as much as the knitters at Monday night's Madison Knitter's Guild meeting.  They got a sneak preview and had lots of kind words to say.

Another story:  if you do need to rip your shawl/scarf in progress, put it into the freezer and get it cold.  (Putting it on the front porch would also work in Wisconsin this week.)  This reduces the static and makes it easier to rip the mohair yarn.

Fashion Forecasting Presentation Links

Missoni Spring 2017

Thanks to the Madison Knitter's Guild for their warm reception last evening to my new 'Fashion Forecasting for Hand Knits' talk.  With a lot of material to cover, I sped right along so some of you might have missed some of the links to information sources that I mentioned.  So, here they are:

Runway show photographs and analysis:  Vogue (formerly style.com)

Pantone
Pantone Color of the Year 2017
Pantone Spring 2017 Fashion Colors

The Yarniacs podcast
The Yarniacs Pantone Colors of Fall contest
PrairiePoppins (Colors of Fall contestant)  and her podcast, Imagined Landscapes

Fashion forecasting mood boards: Fashion Vignette

Trade Shows:
Pitti Filati
TNNA

And for anyone who really wants to dive into the topic, I also drew from several textbooks:

Fashion Forecasting by Evelyn L. Brannon, Bloomsbury Publishing
Fashion Trends: Analysis and Forecasting by Eundeok Kim
Color Forecasting for Fashion by Kate Scully

Enjoy!

Friday Freebies

Knit in Mrs. Crosby Carpet Bag in Bahama Woodstar

New year 2017 housekeeping revealed that I have a handful of written and drafted but never published patterns.  As motivation to get them out, I will be releasing a new pattern every Friday in January - and it will be free for the first weekend!

The first Friday Freebie will be All Squared Up 2.  This pattern was the very first pattern I wrote up and it was sold through a few Chicagoland yarn shops before the arrival of Ravelry.  It is based off of the same pattern I use to teach my beginning entrelac class, so it is definitely an easy intro.  That said, it does have several techniques (provisional cast on, three-needle bind off) that make it appropriate for more skilled knitters.

What makes All Squared Up unique is the finishing at the top.  Look closely at most other entrelac patterns and you will find one of two less satisfactory options for handling the top-of-the-head decreases.  Either the entrelac patterning stops at the decreases, or the squares become smaller and smaller and ever more fiddly.  All Squared Up has full-sized squares up to the top of the head because it uses a clever method of bind off.  (That's the secret sauce that I am not giving away the recipe for here!)

All Squared Up is being re-released in the 2.0 version because in the time since it was written, the yarns used in the samples have been discontinued.  There's also some slight modifications to the pattern that make it easier to follow, and the formatting is more tech friendly.

Knit in madelinetosh Tosh DK  in Heartbeat

So, go grab it for free on Ravelry from Friday, January 6th through midnight on Sunday, January 8th.

Holiday Shopping 2016

I am trying something new.  For those readers wholly unrelated to me, feel free to peruse for your amusement the following collection of knitted gift items.  For those readers related to me, it's time to shop.

Below are the assembled items which I am gifting this holiday season.  Rather than in the past when I made the decisions about who got what, I am putting the power in your hands.  Take a look, and make your claim in the comments section.  If you are slow on the trigger and someone else beats you to the knit that makes your heart sing, let me know.  I might be able to do something, but no guarantees that it arrives by December 24th.  Happy hunting.

Kaiya Mei hat
wool
gifted

Dovetail Scarf
knitted in bulky alpaca & wool scarf

Passerine hat
wool, nylon
claimed by Maggie

Another view of Jeweled Cowl

Jeweled Cowl
cashmere, possum, silk

Baa-ble Hat
wool, mohair
gifted

Hermes Baby hat
merino wool
runs large

Coloration Fingerless Gloves
wool
(actually are finished)

Tiger Stripe Mitts
wool, nylon

Nejiri Wrist Warmers
wool

Mag Mile hat
bulky cashmere

PowderPuffs headband
wool

Betsy hat
alpaca
Claimed by Rachel

Lowlands hat
handspun yarn
wool, mohair, alpaca

Zebra striped mitts
wool, nylon

Purple mittens
wool