Yarny Humor!

I made this silly little cartoon for Malabrigo March and their Most Creative Photo contest.Check out all the other fun pictures here. I don’t know why these things come into my head I am really good at lame jokes!

 

 

Told You! & New Pattern Release: Spare Time Pullover

I told you I would be back soon! Today, I am releasing my Spare Time Pullover pattern. I am so happy to get this pattern out there! It’s been a long time coming. It’s aptly named because for me, that’s just what it was, a spare time project. Also, that is why it took so long to get out. I did the original numbers for it in October and knit the sample in November!

This all starts with my desire to be comfortable at all times. I wanted some ease, but too much ease. I wanted cozy, tea-sipping, comfort food eating…wait, I’m talking about a sweater right. This sweater was knit up in Madelinetosh Vintage. I really liked working with it. It knits up quickly and gorgeously.

I wanted something to wear at home, but wouldn’t be awful to wear to the store or a meeting with teachers or running errands in.  I also had an idea for a collar. I wanted it sort of like a shawl collar, but kind of bandanna like.

 

The sweater is worked from the bottom up in a combination of knitting in the round and flat knitting. The shoulders are joined using three needle bind off.

 

The sleeves are picked up and knit as is the collar.  There is very little seaming (just a little on the collar).

 

I hope you enjoyed this sneak peak at my third and final March pattern release! Thanks for stopping by! Remember, the NinjaKAL is still going on in my group until the end of the month. Hope to see you there!

 

My Neckwear Obsession and a new pattern!

The past few months, I have flirted…no, become obsessed with neckwear. I do go through phases sometimes and this is/was definitely one of them. It was probably spurred on by the ample opportunity to don neckwear this winter. It has been, and still is pretty cold around here. In comparison, March 10th, one year ago here was 65 degrees and I took my son to the park to play. This year…like 20 degrees. ACK!

Most of my obsessiveness has come in the form of cowl design. It didn’t start out that way this time, though.  What You Wish started with my desire to knit a scarf that didn’t bore me to tears and didn’t take forever to knit. I had to keep it interesting. So, I first picked out a cable and took that element and added stripes using intarsia techniques. OH NO!!! Did I say, “intarsia”? Yeah, I did. Don’t let that scare you though, because it isn’t difficult at all and before you know it this thing will fly off the needles. I used Worsted/Aran weight yarns. The small cowl took me a day of knitting.

First, the scarf:

Oh hey, that’s me! Of course, I am wearing a hockey t-shirt hah. This scarf version was knit up with The Plucky Knitter Plucky Rustic. What a fun yarn. It’s soft, yet rustic…

I used the colorway, Flannel, for the main color. The accent is Icey Audrey. And now the cowls:

These were knit up in Malabrigo Worsted. You provisionally cast them on and then join later by grafting. You could also just use 3 needle bind off, but grafting makes the seaming invisible! The short cowl used Frost Gray as the main color and Bobby Blue for the contrast.

The long cowl version was also done in Malabrigo Worsted. I used Frost Gray again as the main color and Sapphire Green as a contrast.

So…has my obsession abated. No, it really hasn’t. I still have new ideas, but have to move on to other things at the moment! I will be back again, likely later this week. I have one more pattern to release this March.

New Pattern Release: Mother’s Wallpaper

When I was younger, my Mom had some wild wallpaper in her bedroom. Picture, if you will, an odd marriage of Damask and Toile. At least, that’s how I remember it. Now, picture the design in bright, eye searing, red. Now, add that it was also flocked. I know I spent way more than my fair share of time mesmerized by this combination of elements. Now, I know my new pattern is not red or damask or flocked, but the cable in this pattern reminds me of the wallpaper. I’m not really sure why exactly, it’s funny how memories and inspiration work sometimes.

 

The fun thing about this cowl (well, the first fun thing) is that it has buttons. I love buttons.  I like putting buttons on things. Sometimes, they may not need it, but I do it anyways!

 

Another fun thing about it, is how many ways I’ve found to wear it. You can wear it just all regular, like this:

I think my favorite way to wear it is to open a few of the bottom buttons and fold the top inwards a couple of inches. Nice and cozy!

 

My daughter’s favorite way to wear it was to turn it inside out and fold it in half so that the cable faced outwards, like this:

 

 

See, most cowls can do these same things if the fabric isn’t too loose and the cowl is “tall” enough. I often get “creative” when I wear my cowls. What is your favorite way to wear a cowl? The yarn? Oh yes, the cowl was knit up using The Wool Dispensary Greater Poison in colorway, Badass Unicorn (best name ever).

Mother’s Wallpaper, like my other patterns, is 20% off until the 15 using the code NINJAKAL at checkout! Thanks for stopping by! I will have more for you soon!

NINJA KAL! Get Ready!

Just a reminder that the Ninja Kal is getting ready to start in my group on March 1st. You can come by and join in the fun. Remember to celebrate this month of fun and knitting together, all the self-published patterns in my shop (including ebooks) are 20% off through the 15th of March using code NINJAKAL at checkout. The project declaration thread is up. So come by and declare what you would like to work on this month. Even I will be knitting along (though, I probably won’t finish!)

I also posted another prize photo. What Ninja can be without their stars?

Ninja Stars!

I will be posting again soon as I have a new pattern for you in the next few days!

March KAL and a sale!

It’s been busy, busy around here. Since the last time I posted, I have finished writing several patterns, finished 5 samples, started and finished a spare time hat, turned a year older, and planned a KAL! WOOO! Yes, March will be our first KAL month this year.

I have lots planned for this year and one of the first things I said I wanted to do was to hold at least 2 KALs. So, in the month of March I am holding a NINJAKAL in my group! You can knit any of my patterns during the month of March (including WIP) and qualify yourself for some prizes and you know just join in on the knitterly fun! To go along with the March KAL, I am also having a sale on my patterns! Until March 15th, you can get 20% off using the code NINJAKAL at checkout. Now, this will work on any of my self published patterns. I also did something that I haven’t done before, I included the ebooks: A Vintage Ice Cream Truck and Pigwidgeon Hat and Mitts! I very, very rarely do this, so if you want to snag one of those, now is the time as it’s not likely they will be any cheaper any time soon.

Prizes, yes, I did say prizes. First of all, there is this:

Really, what is more needed for a Ninja KAL, than a Ninja bag? Probably nothing. Then, there is also this cute little set of  magnets:

Yes, cute…I know! These are the only prize spoilers I have posted yet. There will also be some yarn and possibly a few other things. But, I can’t show you all at once? I need to build some suspense, right?

So, if I have gotten your attention, stop by my group and check it out, join, poke around, stop by my pattern shop…I won’t bite (most likely).

Dr. Knitlove: How I learned to stop procrastinating and KNIT THE SLEEVE.

I am a notorious sleeve hater. I was looking through my patterns last week and I decided that I knit and design a lot of long sleeved items for someone who dislikes sleeves so much. So, it isn’t so much that I don’t like sleeves, I just don’t like knitting them. Last week, I had finished 4 items, almost. They all needed sleeves. I had to get over it and I had to finish ALL THE SLEEVES.I did find a variety of ways to procrastinate before I finished them, though. Such as,

1. I made a chocolate pie, from scratch. Actually, I first bought a cookbook, paged through it and found a pie to make, and then made the pie.

2. Played Word Hero on my Kindle.

3. Looked for birthday presents for my 20 year old even though I know realistically that I am just giving him cash.

4. I searched for, bought, and started reading a new book on my Kindle.

5. Ravelry (enough said.)

6. Yarn shopping. To be more accurate, I found a pattern to knit my mother for her birthday in April. Then I researched yarn for the sweater, made a list of colors, researched shops these were available at, and then purchased said yarn.

7. I knit my son a Foxy hat.

8. Researched nail polish. I don’t even paint my nails. But, you know…someday, I might.

These are just a few things that I did. I finally decided that I needed to do it. I needed to bite the bullet. I needed to get it done already. I put the laptop away, I logged off the desktop, and I put my Kindle away. For hours and hours on end. I knit and knit and knit the sleeves. I took breaks for only the necessities of life like food, tea, sleeping, the bathroom, my teenage taxi service, and toddler cuddles. I emerged from my sleeve knitting marathon in just around 3 days total. Half the sleeves were Aran weight, so I guess that helped.  

So, what is my point here? I am really good at procrastinating. Oh, and when I reach that “point’ I can, get it done. I leave you with this picture of one of the sweaters. I may not “love” the sleeves, but I can “knit” them.

New Pattern: Carrock Cowl

My first official design of the year, the Carrock Cowl. While I was designing this and knitting up the sample. I couldn’t help but think of Tolkien. Since The Hobbit movie was releasing at nearly the same time I was working on this, the association was probably planted in my head by my desire to see the movie. The Carrock, in Tolkien Lore, is a stony eyot (small island) in the upper reaches of the River Anduin. The name Carrock was a bit of a joke by Tolkien as the word car in Anglo-Saxon means “rock”.

 

The yarn is Malabrigo Rastita, a new DK weight from Malabrigo Yarns. This stuff is quite lovely. It is so soft and lofty. These cables are wonderful. It is a single ply yarn and like it’s “big” sister Rasta, slightly felted. The colorway that I used is Plomo. I think this colorway also played a part in the patterns naming. Rocks may seem boring to some, but I’ve always thought that the tones in different types of rock were very interesting and held a lot of depth. This yarn is the same way. It has so many tones and they just all blend so wonderfully together. Though, this did make it a tad bit difficult to photograph. You can see in my photos that when we changed light, the color changed too!

 

I just love the cabled texture. I’ve had this idea for a while and was waiting for the perfect yarn. I think I found it!

 

The pattern has written and charted directions. So, if you like one or the other, you are covered. I hope you have enjoyed the look at my newest pattern. It certainly was a joy to knit up!

Do you see that charcoal-ish color sweater underneath the cowl? That’s a new sweater design I am working on! I am absolutely in love with it and I hope you will all like it too. It (and another couple designs I’m working on) actually sparked an idea for another blog post next week on sleeves. I hope you will stop by and check that out too!

Knitting In the New Year!

2012 was a busy year! Whew! I hope everyone had as much fun as I did. 2013 looks to be just as busy, if not, busier! I’m going to be doing some fun things over the next few months and I can’t wait to show them to you. But, for now I have some general goals that I would like to accomplish.

1. Getting my facebook page and or new blog/website up and running.
2. Host 2 KALs at least. I love doing KALS, they are so fun for me. It is always a blast to see what you guys knit up!
3. Knit myself a sweater. I have knit myself sweaters in the past. When I started designing them, though, I decided to do them in my daughter’s size. She’s smaller and they are faster. I want at least one of my sweaters this year to be in my size, design or not.

That is pretty much all for now. Did you know that I originally started knitting 10 years ago because of a New Years Resolution? It’s true, I totally did!

What are some of the things you hope to accomplish that are knitting related in the new year? Post in my group thread and you can win a skein of yarn. I’ll draw for the winner Friday, January 7th at noon (CST).

Gift One Get One!

First of all, I must apologize. I have been absent again. I assure you, that it is for good reason. I am very very busy with lots of irons in lots of fires! I’ve also been sick twice since my last post. Let’s face it, my family is having a very hard time staying healthy this year. Though, when you are passing germs  between 6 people, it happens, I guess.

I saw last week or so, Carina Spencer had a really neat deal going on. A Gift One, Get One promotion. I thought this sounded like a lot of fun! So, today through noon on Thursday the 20th of December (CST), you can do the same in my pattern shop. Gift  any self published pattern or ebook through Ravelry and get the same one in return. Within 24 hours of your purchase, I will gift you the same pattern or ebook for free! Hope you enjoy this promotion, it’s my last of the season.

I have some exciting things coming in the new year and I can’t wait to show you them!