Gift-Along

I can't believe it is November...where has this year gone! If you have been into any shop lately you will have no doubt seen Christmas decorations up already....apparently the silly season is almost upon us.

 If you have knitting on your gift giving agenda then check out the Indie designer Gift-Along. This is a Ravelry event - hundreds of indie designers have banded together for 2 weeks of discounted patterns, and 2 months of KALs/CALs.

Until 15 November 2013 you can get a 25% discount on participating patterns by using the code "giftalong". You can see all the designers/patterns involved by checking out the giftalong group on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/groups/indie-design-gift-a-long

The KnitAlong will run until the end of the year and there are hundreds of great prizes up for grabs so get involved and share your plans, wips and FOs with the group.

All my individual patterns are included in the promotion :)

 Happy Knitting!

Hemlock and Sideline

I have been very slack on the blogging front and don't really have a good excuse. Now that my youngest child is at school I thought I might have more time to indulge in blogging, but it hasn't really worked out that way yet. I really don't know where the hours go (Ravelry, facebook and knitting probably).

Recently I released two new patterns. It has been a little while since I felt very inspired with the designing business so it has been nice to feel creative again and to get some designs published.

Sideline is a simple yet striking beanie pattern for the whole family. It uses a diagonal stitch I first started playing around with last year. It gives a squishy warm fabric that is perfect for a winter hat. The pattern is written in 6 sizes from NB to Adult for both DK and Worsted yarns. I really love this green one I made DH - he wears it all the time and there is no better compliment for a designer than her fussy husband wearing his hat all the time. After some deliberation I named it Sideline since the strong lines of the hat are the design feature and my prototypes had got plenty of wear on Saturday mornings at netball already. Sideline is available for $4US.

My other pattern released today is also a hat pattern - this time a slouchy beret style. Hemlock has an interesting cable texture which is actually achieved with slipped and twisted stitches. No cabling required! I made a pink one for myself as the first prototype and get compliments on it every time I wear it. It's a pretty hat that is an easy knit and you can modify the amount of slouch to suit. Hemlock is available for $3US.

Goddess shawlette - beading photo tutorial

As promised here are some pictures of how to do the beading accent for the Goddess shawlette. I'm also going to include some other tips and things in case anyone is having difficulties.

First up - the beading. This uses the crochet hook method which places the bead on the stitch vertically so that it is visible on both sides of the fabric.

If you prefer a video this is the youtube clip I referenced in the pattern http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t77pmmqCmr4 this is an excellent clear video and also shows how to use a piece of wire if you dont have a hook. I am sure you will be able to find other clips that will be helpful and other beading tutorials online too.

Ok. Here we go. Apologies for the quality of the pics, my camera is not great and its quite hard to knit and take photos at the same time!

First. Knit to the stitch where you want to place the bead.

Thread your bead onto your crochet hook. For this pattern you are using fingering weight yarn and a size 4mm 6/0 bead and a 1mm crochet hook. For one of my samples I used 3.75mm beads and 0.75mm hook and they worked Ok too.

Now slide the stitch off the needle and insert your hook into the loop.

Now the bit that is tricky to photograph! You need to pull the hook and loop through the bead so that the bead slides down over the stitch. This might take you a couple of goes at the beginning but you will soon work out if you need to angle the hook and how hard to pull so that the stitch comes through the bead.

 

You can now see that the bead is sitting down at the base of the stitch.

Then use your hook to replace the stitch back on the right hand needle and then knit it as normal.

Voila! The stitch is now worked and the bead is placed vertically on the stitch, visible on both sides of the fabric.

It is quite an easy technique and is particularly useful if you decide AFTER you have already cast on that you want to use beads. Its also a great technique for reversible patterns where you want to bead to show on both sides.

For those new to shawls the idea of having to block the shawl is probably quite daunting. It is not really difficult but does take a bit of time to rearrange the fabric and pins. Don't rush it :) The acolyte shawl with the lace body needs to be stretched quite a lot to open up the stitch. The looser you knit this the more you will be able to block it  and the airier your shawl will be.

Here is a picture of the edging being blocked which I thought might be useful for people unsure how much to stretch the points.

The lace stitch in the acolyte version of the pattern requires a slipped stitch passed over a k1 and a yo. You need to make sure the yo is actually OVER the needle when you do the pass over. If it is just forward then the lace wont work. The instructions are asking you to pass the stitch over TWO stitches so make sure this is what is happening when you do the pass over.

And remember that the instructions inside of the ( ) is the pattern repeat. On row 5 of the increase section you will begin to add in more repeats - this continues throughout the increase section.

If you have any issues please contact me via the blog or on Ravelry (sweetp).

New pattern: Goddess

I loaded a new pattern on Ravelry yesterday.

Goddess Shawlette.

This is a pattern I designed as part of a collaboration with Hannah from Red Riding Hood Yarns for her Spring Shawl Club 2012. I was delighted to be asked to part of the club and had a lot of fun coming up with something that would fit the Goddess theme of the club.

Goddess is a long narrow shawlette/scarf that is knit sideways. The edging is a pretty lace that also features an optional bead accent and the body is a lace background stitch that opens up beautifully to make an ethereal light and airy shawl.

The pattern is exclusive to club members for six months at which time I will make it available to the public. Hannah is raffling off a club package next week so if you would like to get your hands on the pattern and the awesome yarn/swag then keep an eye on her facebook page for details.
https://www.facebook.com/RedRidingHoodYarns

FO: Griffin

 

I have a new favourite pattern. I was lucky enough to be a test knitter and it's just been released on Ravelry.

Griffin by Georgie Hallam

Griffin is a saddle shouldered vest, knit in the round with a kangaroo pocket and deep set neckline. There is also a hood option and a sister pattern (Gwendolyn) for a longer dress version. It's a fun knit and a construction (saddles) I've not done before.

I really loved testing this that I actually made three!

A little bitty 3 month version in Tri'Coterie Donegal Tweed DK. This was SO soft to work with, plump and squishy with a white nep that keeps things interesting. I think this one is definitely rocking the 70s vibe.



Then I made a 3year old version to give to one of my nephews for xmas.  I used some Utiku Smoke (Wool Company) that I have had stashed for ages, and a little bit of contrast charcoal plain 8ply to do the pocket and collar. I really loved how this one looks with the contrast. It's little boy smart I think.



 I let Miss 5 try on the gray one - I'd previously tried to convince her that she would look great in one of these - and she was finally convinced. I let her stash dive and she picked some Tri'Coterie DK  in a bright orange vareigated colourway named for Aslan from the Narnia books. This another cool throwback to the 70s! I really love this one too and it suits my little tomboy to a T.

Griffin is a wonderfully versatile pattern and is written in both DK and Aran weights. As with all of Tikki's patterns it is well written with lots of helpful notes on getting the correct size and photo tutorials for any new things. As you can tell I am big fan :)

 For more information on my projects including yardage etc find them on Ravelry

Settling in

This morning we awoke to chickens outside in the garden - actually they were waiting at the door like we might open it and let them in! It was so windy last night, the gate to their pen blew open.

Already I can personalities emerging, and perhaps a bit of a pecking order. Hermoine (pictured) is definitely the bossypants and she'll peck your toes if you go out to feed them in your jandals. She probably talked the rest of them (Flopsy, Henrietta and Harriet) into having a little explore this morning!

In the end I enticed them back to their pen with some breakfast. Easy peasy.

We've had a week or so of no eggs which I hope was just getting used to a new diet (food scraps....yum) and settling in. This morning there were 2- I'm still amazed by the sheer size of the eggs. One of them lays eggs so big they don't fit in standard egg cartons! Omlette for lunch today I think :)

New additions

Meet our (yet unnamed) additions to the family. There are actually 4 but they were a bit shy and wouldn't pose together!

I've wanted chickens for a long time and last week a visit from my clever DIY-genius stepdad resulted in an old horse corral being turned into a chicken run. The girls have a little house with nesting boxes and a perch and a huge fenced area to roam around.

They seem pretty happy. Day 2 and we had 3 eggs this morning so I'm going to assume they're pretty pleased with the new abode.

I love going out to check them, they're quite friendly and already I can see distinct personalities. And nothing beats your own fresh eggs!