Pattern Spotlight: Snow Day Hat

Published in February of 2017 the Snow Day Hat combines all-over seed stitch with earflaps, tassels and a pompom for extra warmth and “style”.

Perfect for an elusive snow day or a fun day hanging out with friends.

On a more personal note this hat also reminds me of Sheldon’s hat that he wears when sick, incognito or moving to Bozeman. I’m finally watching The Big Bang Theory and realizing that I’m raising my own personal almost-Sheldon. I love him fiercely. Always being one of the smartest kid in the room is hard especially when you miss social cues or just don’t know how to relate. I hope for him friends that are true enough to see past any mistakes and the strength to truly show the world what he can do with his amazing mind.

The Snow Day Hat is available through Ravelry, WEBS and LoveKnitting!

 

 

Random: Teenage Driver

It turns out I cannot knit in the car when I’m a passenger with a teenage driver. I know this because we now have a teenage driver in the house. He’s completed Driver’s Education (and let me just say here that whatever the Driver’s Ed instructors are paid, it is nowhere near enough) for those 6 hours of practice driving and logged about another 10 hours driving mostly with his dad.

He mostly does fine. He pays attention and knows the rules of the road. He thinks ahead and makes every effort to be careful. Despite all that it is somehow much more apparent when he is driving that we are barreling down the road in a large metal box at speeds high enough to cause certain damage if we somehow manage to leave the road.

Last night I realized my blood pressure was through the roof the entire time of our 9 minute drive to an evening meeting. At one point I tried to grab the 12-year-old’s hand to grip in the backseat (he was not interested) and the rest of the time I held on to various bits of the car. As his mother, I just can’t quite forget all the times this same person got distracted and physically ran (or walked) into a wall when he was a toddler and small boy. Hard enough to bounce off.

I think perhaps it is better for everyone if I am not a regular passenger of his until he’s logged more practice driving hours. Because my randomly moaning about near-misses in the backseat is probably distracting. And no one needs him to be distracted at this point.

In the meantime, I went looking and found I can purchase these magnetic signs pictured above to slap on our car when he is behind the wheel.

 

New Pattern: Starry Night Cowl

The Starry Night Cowl finished test knitting in June and is now available!

The Starry Night Cowl uses simple increases and decreases to draw groups of stitches into soft, undulating curves to evoke the wild beauty of the dense clouds of gas and dust in our night sky.

Named Starry Night because the curves also remind me of the swirls in Van Gogh’s Starry Night. Written in two sizes. Cowl uses the same lace as my Nebula Shawl.

The Starry Night Cowl is available at Ravelry now and will be available through WEBS and LoveKnitting later this summer!

 

Knitting: July Projects

It was pointed out to me recently that for a knitting designer, I don’t actually talk about knitting all that much on the blog. So I’m hoping to start doing a project round-up once a month to talk about everything I’ve got on the needles that month. So, here is a quick look at what I’m working on in July.

First up is a batch of sample knits for submissions to various magazines. July is a big month for Calls for Submissions for upcoming Winter and Spring/Summer publications. I don’t want to go into specifics about any of these submissions since they will be copyrighted if accepted. But am giving you a quick glimpse of pieces of each so you can get a feel for what types of stitches and colors I’m working with these days. Textures and cables and twisted stitches are some of my favorites right now. And I seem to be returning to my favorite autumn colors palette.

The first sample above is a bit of twisted stitch cables worked in Cascade 220 color 8895 (Christmas Red). Cascade 220 is one of my very favorite yarns these days because it holds stitch definition so well with cables and it is a joy to work with.

The second sample features basic decreases and yarn overs worked in Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Amber Heather. I love the depth of colors pulled together in this heathered brown.

The third submission is worked in Cascade Eco+ with twisted stitch cables on a background of reverse stockinette. I used to think I didn’t really love Eco. But working with this sample may have changed my mind. I don’t know if it is because I worked it on smaller needles giving me a gauge of 16 stitches per 4″ and I much prefer working it at this tighter gauge. Or if my tastes are changing or I just love the bright, green color so much.

The fourth submission is a cabled piece worked out of Cascade 220 color 7827 (Goldenrod).

This month I’m also working on several designs that will be ready for test knitting and then publishing later this year.

I’m almost finished with this sweater made out of Valley Yarns Colrain (50% Merino/50% Tencel) in the Navajo Red color. I love, love, love working with this yarn – the deep rust color is one of my favorites, the drape and feel of the knitted fabric is amazing and it shines. Tencel is a new-to-me fiber that is part of the rayon family made from cellulose. I’m adding knit and purl texture details and really enjoying working on this pullover. Almost all the sample garments I make these days are Mona-sized (Mona is the name I’ve given my dress form) instead of me-sized. But this one? This one I’m making in my size for me to wear!

 

I’m also working on a new top down cabled cloak in Valley Yarns Amherst Jungle Green that will be similar in construction to my Brianna Cabled Cloak. This particular yarn and cable have already started out as a poncho, then a swancho and just recently ripped back to the beginning for the cloak that is my final decision for this project.

 

A cabled stole worked yet again in Cascade 220 color 9600 Antiqued Heather. I did say 220 was one of my favorite yarns these days. Especially when I’m working with cables. I’m loving working on a project that feels kind of antique in a color that matches the feel so exactly. You can see in this close up that my stitches aren’t all uniform right now since I’m knitting a bit looser than my normal. The great thing about blocking a good wool is that I fully expect the stitches to be uniform and beautiful after washing and blocking this piece.

 

And a coffee inspired project out of Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage in the color Pecan. This yarn was a gift from a friend and I’m really loving working with both because it is beautiful and because it was a gift.

 

Then just for fun (nothing to do with my design work) I’m also finishing up a pair of socks for my mother-in-law out of Knit Picks Felici Sock Yarn in Maple Leaves. It might look like I picked this colorway since the colors match most of the other things on my needles, but I actually let her pick from several available choices out of my stash. I need to finish these up so she can wear them while she goes through treatments.

 

That’s it for now. I’ve actually got another couple of projects set to go on the needles soon. But I’ll save those to talk about after I’ve actually started working on them.