Tag: knitting designer

The Thrill of Autumn

I love this time of year. The thrill of Autumn is in the air and the leaves are slowly starting to change colours and fall. The days are beginning to be cooler, making this the most lovely time of year to be outdoors. I love Fall. Fall is when I can start to wear all the beautiful woolens I’ve knit throughout the year. I get to pull scarves and shawls and hats out that may not have been used since last winter. Fall is a time for layering and for earth tones and warm things to drink. In Fall I can enjoy the nip in the air without longing for it to be warm again.

I’ve a colorwork hat in the works that is so very Fallish. I can’t wait for it to be off my needles so I can wear it. I’m using handspun from the first time I spun Batts. They were little tiny things made of Merino, Alpaca, and Bamboo, and I had no idea how to spin them.

wool batt

This may have been my first attempt at woolen spinning, but by the end I was just spinning worsted. The yarn is a 2-ply sport-weight(ish) and is very soft. My contrast yarn is a light fingering weight yarn from Hedgehog Fibers that I bought on my honeymoon. Fingering weight on it’s own wouldn’t stand up well to the sport-weight handspun, so I’m holding it doubled for the most lovely Marl. Really, I can’t tell you how beautiful this is!

handspun yarn

I’m making the pattern up as I go, but for the colorwork section I modified a chart from a book the owner of my LYS gave me for my anniversary (Thanks, Krista!!). And last, but not least, I am using Jane Austen stitch markers. This project is just so perfect in so many ways. I can’t wait to see how it comes out! Hopefully you’ll see a new pattern coming soon. Watch this space!

colorwork knitting with teacup stitch marker

Cables and Garter Stitch

My husband and I moved to a new apartment last week. I know myself well enough to know that when my life is in uproar I need something simple and soothing to knit. One of my knitting friends just gave me the most gorgeous skein of yarn (it’s Ella Rae Lace Merino DK in colour 201), and rather than tossing it into the stash I decided to cast it on right away. Originally I planned to make a Rikke Hat, but I just cannot stand the jog you get when knitting garter stitch in the round. So what is a knitter to do, but design her own hat?

yarn cake

I made a swatch and blocked it before measuring my gauge (Can we just take a moment to discuss how important blocking is? If you plan to wash your knitting ever, you need to wash and block before checking your gauge. Wool reacts to water. Sometimes it grows, sometimes it shrinks. Sometimes there is no noticeable difference. But you don’t know until you block it. Block your swatches, people!). Then I measured my head, calculated the number of stitches I needed, and cast on.

knitting garter stitch in the round with cables

In order to avoid the dreaded garter jog I added a cable to my hat. Simple, effective, and very cute. I can’t wait to wear this thing!

What kind of project is “comfort knitting” for you?

Swatching

It’s been a white since I published my last design. This hasn’t been intentional, but I find that if I don’t plan things out I don’t do them. Accordingly, I drew out a calendar for the next few months (can you believe that I don’t have a single calendar in my house??) and wrote in several design goals for the next few months. I included time for swatching, time for knitting parts of a pair (if applicable), time for pattern testing, and hopeful release dates.

yarn

So I have started work on my next design. It will be a pair of lightly cabled fingerless mitts. My first swatch is done and blocked, and I’m ready to start the second.

chart

Note to self: writing charts is hard!

Working

Well, friends, I am working on my next design. I don’t think work ever stops when you are a designer, but it is such exciting work. And (in theory, at least) you get to knit for your job. How cool is that? I’m still new to designing, still getting my feet wet, still learning what works well and what doesn’t. I’m also testing out the waters of submitting ideas and patterns to magazines (super exciting, super scary!). Because of this I can’t post a lot of pictures right now, but here is a sneak peek of what you’ll be seeing (hopefully) soon. I can’t wait!

dusk

If you’re interested, you can find my published designs here.

 

Published!

So, I meant to wait until Saturday to release my cowl pattern, but I couldn’t wait. You can find the Raindrops and Wildflowers Cowl pattern here! The pattern has been tech edited and test knit. It’s a little bit unreal (in a very good way) to see other people knitting up the pattern I wrote and loving it!

both cowls

cowl

cowl

smile

My husband was kind enough to be my photographer for this pattern. As you can see, we had a lot of fun at the photo shoot.

husband

If you would like to buy the pattern, enter the coupon code BEATRIX at checkout for 20% off your purchase until July 5. Happy Knitting!

The Beginning and the End

A few months ago I was lying in bed unable to sleep. I started thinking about yarn (as you do) and some beautiful silk hankies I had in my stash. As I lay there I came up with a plan to write a pattern and use my beautiful silk hankies. I consulted my stitch dictionary and selected my lace patterns, and then I cast on. The initial cowl turned out quite lovely, but I ran out of hankies before the cowl was done. So I pulled out another batch of hankies and knit a second cowl. It is done just in time to take pictures for the pattern.

1

Did I mention that I’m publishing the pattern on Ravelry (Not that I’m super proud and excited or anything)? It will be called Raindrops and Wildflowers and I am releasing the pattern on Saturday, July 1. Eeeeeeee!!!

Watch this space. There will be a discount code.

In Progress

In order from newest to oldest projects…

  • Washcloths: Some friends recently bought a house and are having a housewarming party. I am knitting them some washcloths because every home needs something hand knitted.

washcloth

  • Watermelon Socks: I’m past the gusset and well into the foot and starting to get a bit pink. I pulled a few yards of white out so the sock would turn pink more quickly.

watermelon

  • Raindrops and Wildflowers Cowl: this is my second time knitting this pattern. I don’t normally re-knit patterns, and I am having a hard time with this one. On the original I ran out of yarn before the final border, so I have to re-knit for pattern photos. I keep telling myself it is worth it…

cowl

What’s on your needles?