Pattern: Grayson

The pattern for Grayson is now available as a free PDF download on Ravelry!

As I mentioned before, the pattern includes instructions for three different versions--the long cowl you see here, a shorter version, and a scarf! All three are quite similar, the main difference is in the length and finishing. The pattern is suitable for intermediate beginners, since it's worked entirely in garter stitch. However, the technique for casting stitches on along the sideways edge can be a little difficult to wrap your brain around! Check out Lee Meredith's awesome tutorial on it if you need a little extra help. 

I'll admit it, I have a little bit of an addiction to garter stitch. I love how the stripes look, and there are so many different possible color combinations in Palette! Immediately after finishing this one, I cast on another in bright summery orange & green, colors that I think will give the finished cowl an almost tribal feel. Mmm. 

And that's that! As always, feel free to send me any questions or comments. 

Happy knitting! ♥

Being Naughty

I'm here to confess.

I have never done a gauge swatch. Never. 

I learned to knit and crochet during a summer Sunday school curriculum the year I was ten. No swatching necessary--all of us girls just gave the too-small scarf to our favorite doll. Nobody really had any interest in carrying on for five feet or so of scarf anyway. The s-word wasn't even mentioned. When the class ended, I promptly lost my needles and forgot the whole thing.
 When I was in eighth grade, I wanted to be a ballerina. I went to class five days a week, and rehearsed my part as a Chinese fortune cookie in The Nutcracker with almost equal regularity. Bored and not yet interested in Seventeen magazine like my fellow cookies, I started to knit again. No thoughts of gauge there either.

I kept on knitting after that, and found Ravelry somewhere in the middle. 

Right around then--although I can't remember exactly how--I was introduced to the swatching concept, and slowly it started to dawn on me that it seemed to be important. But, teenagers are stubborn, and I'm Irish-Italian to boot. Just to spite all the voices that said I had to, I refused to swatch. I just got a little bit smarter about trying to avoid it. For example, I no longer simply assume that the finished project will be the correct size and shape. I hold it at arm's length about 1/3 of the way in and eyeball it to ensure that it will. If you disregard a few minor frogging incidents, this has all been very well and good until recently. 

Recently, I'm dabbling in what I like to loosely term pattern design, and it sort of requires me to give hopeful knitters some sort of gauge to go by so they (you?) know if they're doing things right and if they have any chance or not of knitting a hat that will fit them--or if it will be better suited to being a doorknob cover.

Would you all be terribly offended if I wrote, instead of gauge, "Just hold it out at arm's length and eyeball it"?

Of Mountains and Molehills and Zentangles

Yesterday,

we all drove out of the city and into the countryside.

If you go for about two hours, you end up in Tibet.

It's beautiful.

Mountains, lakes, trees, rivers...

I felt as tired as all get out,

but I still took pictures--because how can you not?

They hang these flags at the mountain passes;

they have prayers written on them all over.

They believe the prayers go up each time a flag flaps in the breeze.

That's Qinghai Lake--quite the tourist spot for locals.

Somewhere in the middle there is an island where thousands of birds roost.

I, of course, did some knitting on the drive.

I finally figured out what to use that lovely white wool on. The pattern is free on Ravelry, and it's really well-written, in my opinion. Although, I might get brave and try to add some sleeves if I have leftover yarn. I'm a sleeves gal.

By the way, if you ever come to China, this yarn has beautiful stitch definition and cost me about 3$ USD for at least 700 yds, if not more.

I also discovered zentangling on the web and did up a few little sketches.

I won't post those yet, though--they're a little rough yet.

Soon.

Also, if you want to test knit, send me a Ravmail or leave me a comment with your e-mail!

I need a couple girls who like heels to preview my socks pattern. :)

And that's all for now, lovelies.

Go enjoy your October day.

Oh, Saturdays

It's kind of fun to have an industrious day. It's not even 2 pm, and I've already:

-Power-cleaned the entire house, including places that haven't seen a sponge in quite some time.

-Drawn out sketches for most of the prospective designs currently floating around in the back of my mind. If I stay this motivated, some of them will be released this month.

(Let me know if you like test knitting!

-Made chunky tomato-basil soup! This is actually for tomorrow, but it smells soo good that I really want to eat it now instead.

And now I'm going to answer some long over-due e-mails (well, try to, anyways), make myself some lunch, and then start winding yarn so I can cast on something fun!

The sunshine is finally back--I think that's why I'm getting so much done today.

Pattern: Future of Forestry Hat

Another pattern for the knitters among us.

This hat is named after one of my favorite bands, and inspired by Ann Weaver's Shackleton Hat. I loved the shape of the hat, but the finished product really didn't suit me, unfortunately. So, I gave that hat away and set out to design something that was more to my liking.

Future of Forestry works up fast, and is extra thick and warm due to the double layer of 1x1 ribbing that serves as the brim. The crown has subtle seed-stitch rib detailing, and the whole thing is finished off with a purled 3-needle bind-off. I knit this in single-ply mystery wool that I bought here, but any good worsted or aran weight wool or alpaca should do fine.

Needle size: US 10, 4 DPNs

Yarn: Worsted or aran weight wool, about 150-200 yds

Optional: Extra wool for pom-poms or tassels

Gauge: 8 stitches in lightly stretched 1x1 rib, approx. 2 inches

-Cast on 70 stitches loosely, divide onto 3 DPNs. Join in the round.

-Row 1: *Knit 1, Purl 1,* repeat around. Work Row 1 until work measures 8

inches.

-Row 2: Knit all stitches.

-Row 3: *Knit 6, Purl 1,* repeat around.

-Work rows 2 & 3 until work measures 12 inches, ending with row 3.

-Next row: Purl all stitches.

Work a 3-needle bind-off as you normally would but do so purlwise and with wrong sides facing, being sure to purl through the back loop of the stitch on the rear needle. It will still look 'knit' on the top where you pass the stitches over one another, but it does give the top edge a bit more texture.

I think it would look really cute with little pom-poms or fat tassels on the top corners, but they're not quite moi so I left them off. You, however, should feel free to liberally apply some pom-poms. I've heard that its lucky to wear them, that you'll see more shooting stars on snowy nights if you do...

Scattered Updates

I'm fairly emotionally exhausted right now. What I was really craving this afternoon was simply to be able to go back to bed and stay there for the rest of the week. Instead, I decided to be productive. So, I cleaned for about an hour and now I'm blogging.

Let's see how this goes, shall we?

***

I finally got brave and posted a pattern on Ravelry--which I've been meaning to do since June, by the way. So far the design police haven't come for me, so I think I'm okay. Thanks to everyone who queued or favorited it.

I don't know if it's the homesickness, the cold weather, or all the spicy food here, but I seem to have caught the design bug just a little. I'm currently working on three new designs right now, all in slightly different stages.

For starters, I'm working on a slouch hat. My coat isn't hooded and the winds here are already kind of brutal. I'm trying to focus on that, so hopefully you'll see the pattern up in the next week or so. It's knit at a fairly large gauge, so it's a fast pre-winter knit.

Secondly, I'm knitting up a sock pattern. It's pretty simple, with some girly embellishment--because who doesn't love that? That one won't be posted until right around November 1st because I want to model them with a certain pair of heels that I didn't bring with me to China. About a month until I'm back in the US, and I am looking forward to it! I'll definitely post some teaser photos before then, though. I'm using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, and this particular self-striping pattern is really pretty.

The third is a surprise. :) Let's just say that, hopefully, it'll make skinny girls with D cups happy. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am tired of knitted garments not fitting!

And that's what's coming down the drainpipe as far as WIPs are concerned.

***

I've been listening to a lot of Elf Power in the past two days. It's Indie-Psychdelic-Punk-Pop-Rock music, and it's crazy and peppy and catchy. Don't worry, it's not a big hair metal band--which is kind of what the name made me think of three years ago when I first ran across their music. Every girl's got to have her background music for inspiration, and this is mine.

Go check it out.

(Yes, I can be a music geek when I like something. But aren't we all?)

***

We had sunshine for about five minutes just now!

Whoops, gone again.

***

I'll leave you with a picture of another recent project. Isn't it pretty?

I've always had a bit of a crush on Malabrigo yarns, and this confirmed for me that we belong together, all the time. It's uber-soft, has the sweetest little bit of color variation, and has fuzzed up just enough during and after knitting to have a lovely gauzy halo.

I keep petting it whenever I wear this.

Pattern: Otis

Meet my first self-published pattern, Otis! This little neckwarmer is a side-to-side triangle scarf of squishy garter stitch that knits up really quickly, and is great for someone just learning the ropes. Whenever my friends want to learn to knit, this is what I have them make.

It's made in Cascade 220, one of my all-time favorite yarns. It just knits up so nicely, especially in garter stitch, and it's super warm and cosy. Perfect for anything you want to tuck around your neck under your coat while jumping into leaf piles or ice-skating outdoors.

Needle size: US 10.5

Yarn: One skein of Cascade 220 Heathers

Optional: Contrasting yarn & crochet hook for edging

Gauge is not important for this pattern.

Row 1-Make a slip knot. Knit into front and back loops; 2 stitches. Turn.

Row 2-Knit into front and back of 1st stitch, knit 2nd stitch; 3 stitches. Turn.

Row 3-Knit 1, make 1 by picking up bar between 1st and 2nd stitch and knitting it, knit across row. Turn.

Row 4: Knit all stitches.

Repeat rows 3&4 until your scarf is the size you want it, or until your wool is used up.

Bind off, and weave in ends.

If you feel like it, crochet some scallops around the two bottom edges for decoration.

Keep in mind that Otis is constructed side-to-side. This means that the edge without increases is going to become the widest part of your triangle, and the top of your scarf. If you want to know how long your neckwarmer is, that's the edge you want to check. The increase edge then becomes one side of your triangle, and the bind off edge is the second side. Make sense? :)

And there you have it.