knitting

One for you, one for me, Part 2

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Being a continuation of yesterday’s post, in which I started to outline my plans for the Gift-A-Long. Again, all photos are copyright the designer unless otherwise noted, and are used here with permission.

Yesterday, I outlined gifty plans for myself, The Niece, myself, and Nephew 2. Today, let’s start with Nephew 1 and move to some backup plans, put in place just in case I’ve become a completely different person and have underestimated how much time is left in the year.

So. Last year, I made the oldest nephew the longest, stripiest, pointiest hat that ever did point. That sucker will be hard to top, but I think I’ve found the way to do it. Mittens. No, really, mittens. You haven’t seen these mittens yet. They’re the Little Hedgehog Mittens by Birch Hollow Cottage. Continue reading →

One for you, one for me, Part 1

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Oh, look! It’s November. Or, as many knitters know it, the frantic season. Now, in the name of sanity and continuing familial affection I have pretty much stopped with the seasonal gift knitting, and am much happier for it. I do make exceptions for the niece and nephews, though, because they’re little, and fun to knit for, and did I mention the littleness? I’m also going to make an exception for myself, since all my knitting time lately has been devoted to work stuff and a cardigan for himself (which is sort of also work stuff), and I’m feeling very virtuous. And cold. And in need of a sweater.

I do, however, need help keeping on track. (Long time readers may remember that when it comes to non-work knitting, I excel at starting projects, not so much with the finishing.) Fortunately, there’s a group for that on Ravelry: the Indie Design Gift-A-Long. From now until the end of the year, the Gift-A-Long group has stitch-alongs for every kind of project in knitting and crochet, with a huge number of prizes (over 1,800, from patterns to needle sets) to keep us motivated. There’s also a giant pattern sale, with 3,822(!) patterns at 25% off until the 21st, using the code giftalong2014. Eighteen of those sale patterns are mine; you can see which ones in my handy Gift-A-Long bundle, and all of the sale patterns on the Giant Pinterest Boards of Shopping Doom.

Just a few of the patterns I've put on sale
Just a few of the patterns I’ve put on sale

Continue reading →

Saturnalia, revised

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A couple of days ago I mentioned that there was a new version of the Saturnalia Infinity Scarf pattern, featuring my snazzy new layout. This here is the info page (click the image to enlarge):

Saturnalia v2 info page

Ever since I started work on this pattern, I’d wanted to do it in at least two yarn weights. Time constraints kept the design to fingering weight at the time of its release, so I let the idea of a sport weight version sit in the back of my mind for a few months while I worked on other things. I finally got back to it this spring, and now the second sample is done and photographed, the numbers are crunched, and Saturnalia v2 is ready to go. (Photos once again by my talented sister, Nusha Elliott.) Continue reading →

Hybrid Vigour: Continuing Adventures in Socks

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Some of you may remember the Great Handspun Sock Blowout of this past winter, in which my two pairs of handspun socks developed a cascade of failure points, resisting all attempts to save them from an untimely demise. At the time, I decided to rethink how I was spinning sock yarn, and relegated the yarn already spun to other projects. The one exception — a cabled Romney yarn — repaid my trust by becoming a sturdy (if somewhat fuzzy) pair of warm, comfortable, and durable socks. (So far. Knock on wood. With fingers crossed.)

These are exactly as cozy as they look.
These are exactly as cozy as they look.

(If you’re interested, the pattern is Kalajoki by Tiina Seppälä. It’s top-down, which I don’t normally do, but I fell in love with the waves down the leg and the rather ingenious anatomical toe.) Continue reading →

Backroad Hats

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Some time ago, Michelle over at Widdershin Woolworks asked if I would test knit a new product for her. Michelle mostly dyes spinning fibre, but she was thinking of adding yarn to the shop, starting with a 100% Targhee worsted weight. Now, I don’t work a lot with variegated yarns, but I was happy to give it a go. After a few tries, I came up with a stitch pattern that I think looked good with her dyeing style, and tried it out as a hat. (You can see my full swatching notes here.)

Backroad Hats man

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Out the other side

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It has been an interesting spring here in Cusserland, I can tell you. We had moving and injuries and illness and the sort of concatenation of crappiness that tests a person’s mettle and makes one profoundly aware of the difference that good, kind people can make when you’re neck-deep in it. Even knitting didn’t help. Things were dire, indeed.

Slowly, slowly, the storm waters are subsiding, and as they do, I realize that almost without me knowing it, my hands have been making things. In the occasional stolen moments — a few rows before bed, a couple of rounds in a waiting room — these projects have quietly progressed until this past weekend I knit the last stitches on three projects in as many days. Three! It felt like the sun coming out. It felt like an omen of good things to come. I may or may not have done a bit of a victory dance. What did I finish, you say? I’m so glad you asked.

Cs blanket

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Knit first, ask questions later…

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…is the approach I went with for the next Christmas project, which is why there are two hats in this post. Always ask the parents, people. It’ll save you grief in the end.

A while back, a dear friend sent me some merino sliver, all the way from New Zealand, which spun up into a pretty, soft, red and pink yarn:

Touch Merino spun up

Now, I may not be a big fan of pink, but The Ever-Growing Niece loves it. Loooooooves it. Pink, pink, pink, the brighter the better. I knew who this yarn was going to. Continue reading →