I’m excited to introduce you to Last Roseof Summer! This little scarf or shawlette is a great transitional piece to bridge the gap between summer and fall.
It’s also a great project to use up those gorgeous mini-skeins you couldn’t resist at the trunk show, or those luxe bits of cashmere you have hanging out in your stash. It lends itself particularly well to a gradient set.
This lacy hexagon looks impressive, but is surprisingly simple to make! It can be worn in a number of ways, making it a very versatile addition to your wardrobe!
The 5th annual Gift-a-Long is underway! I can’t believe we’ve been doing this for 5 years already! I’ve been a participating designer and knitter all 5 years, and it’s an absolute blast every time.
New to the GAL? It’s a great event originally created to boost awareness of Indie designers and to help fiber crafters get those holiday projects done on time. For one week each November (this year it’s from the 21st to the 28th) all participating designs are 25% off with that year’s code. This year we have over 300 designers enrolling 10-20 designs each in the sale. You can catch a quick idea of what I personally have on sale below, or click the link to see all 20 discounted patterns.
The sale only lasts a week, but the Gift-a-Long lasts all the way until New Year’s Eve. There is an -along thread for each category of pattern (sweaters, baby knits, hands, etc) with random prizes awarded periodically in each. There are also threads for various contests that run throughout the GAL, and on New Year’s there’s a prize giveaway extravaganza! It’s a fun way to motivate each other to get through your holiday gift-knitting and get yourself some fun gifts too.
I’ve never tried forcing bulbs indoors before, but it was a really good idea. This hyacinth smells so good, and it really is wonderful to see something blooming this early in March.
There are also some tantalizing hints of spring outside. All of my spring bulbs have sprouted, and the overwintered alliums (garlic, chives, etc) are beginning to look happy and energetic again. We had 3 days in a row where the high was over 60 this week.
And a sure sign of spring in the knitting world? Lace knitting has returned! I’m seeing more and more Ravelry and Instagram friends casting on lace projects, and my own lace shawlette test knit is underway in my Rav group! If you’d like to join in, be sure to check out the link!
So you’ve already seen hints of the fabulously green sweater design currently on the needles.
But I’ve got some other goodies in progress too. Here’s a pair of hints for an upcoming e-book full of patterns that double as tutorials:
And then there’s the design that’s ready for test knitting! I’ll be posting a call for testers in my Ravelry group next week, but if you’d like to get in early on a little springtime lace knitting, please let me know in the comments!
New year, new plans. What can I reasonably expect to accomplish this year? I’d like to:
Publish at least 2 new sweaters.
Publish at least 4 new patterns.
Knit the entirety of at least 1 of my spinning stashes (there are currently 3 in stash ready for knitting).
Spin something that can be interchanged with commercial yarn, instead of having to search for/create patterns that can tolerate a bit of thick and thin.
Finally finish the dang PODÂ I’ve been working on since I was engaged. Our 5 year anniversary is this summer; it’s getting a little ridiculous.
This isn’t very many things, but I still worry they’re a bit overambitious. Not one of the things on that list will be fast. What do you think? Reasonable or not?
Remember that design that I had to cast-on 3 times? The one we weren’t talking about?
We seem to have surmounted our difficulties. The piece is behaving itself thus far (guess the 3rd time is a charm), and we got some real quality time together during the drive for last week’s field trip.
I am in love and totally addicted. I can’t put it down, and I’m okay with that. I mean, I didn’t really need food or a clean house anyway. Right?
P.S. Just over a week until the GAL sale starts! If you have any requests for what gets included, make them now!
As I’ve just cast-on 200+ stitches for the third time with this new design, I’m not particularly interested in talking about my knitting at the moment. Let’s talk about the weather…or hockey…or yummy harvest foods…or pretty much anything else but what I’m knitting right now.
What are you knitting right now? Distract me, please!
I am slowly slogging through the rewriting of my design for the dratted multi-yarn,
but my heart just isn’t in it at the moment. The project is working up nicely; I’m just tired of working on it. Luckily, the yarn support I mentioned in previous posts has arrived! Turns out it had an excellent reason for being delayed, but now it is here and smooshy and lovely and a perfectly timed dose of “new” to consume all of my attention.
It occurs to me that both of these projects are made of cotton yarns, and thank goodness for that because there are no days in the local forecast with highs below 90. I love summer anyway, but it’s a little easier to love with weather-appropriate yarns.
Last week I promised a post on the project I took along to Montreal, so here goes. Since the yarn support I’m waiting on didn’t make it here before I left town, I started a new, somewhat experimental design with some variegated cotton I had laying around. Variegated yarns are always a little dicey to play around with – so many things can wind up looking wonky.
But, I had hopes! So I brought along the full pack of yarn and a couple different needles and other supplies to allow for mind changing as I worked. Then I spent about half of the drive up and back (about 11 hours each way) and lots of time in Montreal, plus all of last week, working on…this:
If you follow my designs on Ravelry, you’ve no doubt noticed a few new ones popping up this week! Salt River Mills has begun releasing their new collection, which includes four patterns by me, just in time for TNNA! The patterns will all be available on Ravelry, as well as from the North American Suri company and I believe several of the alpaca farms they work with. I will post here over the next couple days with some basic info on each!
Feel Good Knitting 