Published in late 2016 the Bolero Cowl combines basic stitches to evoke the lovely slides and twists of the dance.
Cables are written and charted. Bolero Cowl is perfect for a quick and easy gift as well as a good introduction to textured knitting.
The Bolero Cowl is available through Ravelry, Knit Picks and LoveKnitting!
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!
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!
Sweet Clover is a simple top down raglan with a square neck and an optional lace panel on the body. Linen Stitch finishing on the neck, sleeves and body. A-line shaping with positive ease for a relaxed fit.
Written in 7 sizes. Lace is charted and written. Sample knit in Cascade Ultra Pima Fine color 3826 Golden Rod. Name Sweet Clover because the lace and color both remind me of the roadside wildflowers on the Midwest prairies known by the same name.
I really loved working the Linen Stitch edging for this design. Knitting it is somehow relaxing and the almost woven look of the fabric that it creates is lovely. The pattern is written with the option to skip the lace panel completely and simply work the Linen Stitch edging at your desired length.
Sweet Clover Tee is currently available through Ravelry! Look for it at my venues soon.
And I’m adding it to my Summer Tees Promotion! 3 for the price of 2! Purchase any two of my tee patterns and get a third tee pattern for free! (No code needed. Just put your chosen tees in the cart and the price of the third tee will be automatically discounted.) Promotion ends July 31, 2018.
Published in 2017 Brigit is a seamless top-down capelet with a round yoke and long, long cables for simple cozy elegance.
Brigit is a quick, easy knit. Written in 4 sizes. Pattern includes tips to adjust your fit! Cables written and charted.
Brigit available through Ravelry, WEBS and LoveKnitting!
Note: The sample knitter for main photographs (me) managed to twist at least one cable the wrong direction in every frame I could use to photograph the sample. Drat and ack – sample knitting during soccer games might not be the best idea! The good news is that the capelet is lovely even with the errors.
Published in 2015 Masala is a simple top down raglan v-neck with alternating leaf stitch at the bottom of the sleeves and body. Tunic length with instructions to shorten if desired. Waist and hip shaping for flattering fit. Written in 7 sizes. Leaf stitch is charted and written. Sample knit in Cascade Ultra Pima Fine color 3771 (Paprika).
Masala is my favorite of my series of top-down tees. The color, the length, the neckline and the drape of it make it a great fit for me. And Masala works well for me with my two favorites – either jeans or a maxi skirt.
Masala is available through Ravelry, LoveKnitting, WEBS and Craftsy.
The Ariana test knit is almost finished. This is a tough time of year for test knits because everyone is busy with knitting for themselves after the rush to finish holiday gifts. Plus almost no one is quite ready to start buying yarn in sweater quantities just yet. So I’m extra grateful for the testers that put down their own projects, dug deep in their stash and offered their own time and thought to help test this sweater!
Ariana is a simple top-down seamless raglan with mock cable edging on the body, sleeves and neck. Ariana also features subtle waist and hip shaping for flattering fit and a split hem. Written in 7 sizes. No cables or cable needle!
I love this sweater a lot and think it will be my go-to sweater for the season. I just wore it for a day of watching the boys and husband ski. I really like the comfy feel of it and the split hems!
The Knit Now issue 83 is out! It is full of beautiful projects including my Alana Pullover!
All photos courtesy of Knit Now magazine.
Alana combines a center front cable panel and complementary sleeve cables with top-down constructions for casual elegance.
Named for the Celtic word for stone and harmony, Alana is a quick and easy knit. Written in 7 sizes.
Includes waist and hip shaping for a flattering fit. Cables are charted and written.
Sample knit in West Yorkshire Spinners The Croft Shetland Tweed Aran. When I knit the sample garment, the yarn was brand new and needed to be kept a secret. A quick google search shows it is available now from multiple retailers and I’m thrilled to be able to share it! It was a blast to work with and I really loved the finished garment.
Find this issue at your local yarn shop or bookstore or purchase the digital edition here!
Earlier this year I felt like I was in a little bit of a rut as I grow my knitwear design business. I was doing the work, putting in the hours and things were happening.
But at the end of each month when it was time to evaluate my goals for the month, I’d go to my tiny list on the bottom of the monthly calendar and see that I hadn’t quite managed everything. So I went looking for resources and found the Being Boss Podcast. I started randomly picking back episodes that sounded the most helpful to me. One of the first I listened to was Episode #79 on using the Chalkboard Method to set goals near the end of July 2017.
The idea of the Chalkboard Method is to write your goals big and bold in a space that you will see every day while you work with large spaces to fill in as you meet your goals. This sounded perfect for me! Not only would it make sure I saw my goals every day, it would help me focus on where I still had the most open spaces as the quarter progressed. Because it was a podcast, I couldn’t quite visualize how theirs looked so I made up a board that made sense for my goals.
I was so excited I made this 9×11 sheet of goals immediately for the 3rd Quarter and shared it on my Instagram.
Thinking about my goals in quarters instead of in months was the first important step for me. And I actually got it wrong the first time. I was so excited to get started that I wrote a list of achievable goals for a 3-month period….and then realized I only had a little more than 2 months of the quarter left to accomplish them. I decided to leave my goals as written and cut myself some slack if I didn’t complete them since I would be working with many fewer days than I’d originally planned. I transferred the goals to a re-purposed poster board from a middle school science project and put it right behind my laptop on my desk where I could see the goals every day. It worked amazingly well for me. I completed all of my goals even with those fewer days!
I added more detail and more goals for my fourth quarter.
It worked so well that I did it again for the fourth quarter with more goals and more detail. Again I met or exceeded all of my goals. In 2017, I published 15 patterns, made more than 32 pattern submissions, had one pattern published in a book, sold several patterns to yarn companies and magazines. I’m excited by my 2017 achievements and my forward momentum that picked up since I started using the Chalkboard Method in my third quarter!
I can’t really explain the magic behind it since the concept seems so simple as to be almost silly. But it truly works for me. I’ve always been a list maker and goal oriented. But somehow writing them small made it easy to get off course. While writing them great big really increases my productivity and focus. I’m definitely a convert and plan to continue the process. In fact, when a friend offered me a re-store find of an 8-foot chalk board I said YES! Because writing the goals even bigger and having the space to grow my goals can’t hurt.
My Chalkboard Goals now cover the entire wall behind my desk. I even gave up a window for it.
I’m excited to see where 2018 takes me!
December went by in a flash! In between hiking the Grand Canyon and the holidays, I published two new patterns. I’m proud to introduce my Grand Canyon Scarf and the Aurora Hat.
Grand Canyon Scarf
The Grand Canyon Scarf finished test knitting the day we were driving home from our Grand Canyon hike. That means that some of my very dedicated testers either needed to finish their project early or keep working while I was unable to access the thread. My testers are amazing people and I really, really appreciate all the time and work they put into each of my projects!
The Grand Canyon Scarf uses simple knits, purls, decreases and increases to evoke the beautiful geology of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River that runs through it. No cables or cable needles! The Grand Canyon Scarf is part of my Arizona Collection along with the Sedona Cowl and Rock Art Shawl.
Aurora Hat in size Child-Adult S
The Aurora Hat finished test knitting in mid-December and is available now through Ravelry! The Aurora Hat uses simple knits, purls and basic cables to evoke the lovely glimmers and twists of dawn’s first light in the dark. The three sizes use the same number of cast on stitches and follow the same directions – the only difference is the gauge of the yarn used and the number of beginning ribbing rows completed!
Again I want to gush a little about my test knitters – as always I love how Ravelry brings together people from all over the world to share a common passion. For this test knit I had testers from Argentina, Canada, California, Australia, Illinois, Texas and Arizona all working and chatting together in the thread. It is always amazing to watch!
Tamara's Blog 