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Spadina Avenue

| eelliottknits

A while back, I started playing around with purl ridges and came up with a simple stitch pattern that I really love.

What is it about this texture that grabs me so? I have no idea, but I find these graduated purl ridges deeply satisfying, no matter how many times I work them (and you are going to see them a lot in the next few releases). While noodling around with the ridges, I tried drawing a column of slipped knit stitches through them, and I liked that version, too.

I looked at the result and could picture it as a cowl: a big, generous cowl in a soft, lush yarn that would be as much of a pleasure to knit as it would be to wear. This design would be simple without being boring: a design to work on a lazy weekend, in stolen minutes during the day, or whenever you feel like knitting something satisfying and are not in the mood for a challenge.

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Tubular Cast On: my current favourite method

| eelliottknits

I do adore the tubular cast on. It’s tidy, and stretchy, and in fine gauge yarns before some ribbing it looks positively professional. It’s particularly helpful when you want to get a stretchy rib from a yarn without much memory of its own, which is why it’s the key to a good brim in Slouch 1, 2, and 3.

Slouch 1 three quarters web
Slouch 1: The first half of the brim is worked in Shibui Knits Pebble held double. Pebble is not a bouncy yarn at all, yet see how nicely the tubular cast on stretches?

I’ve tried several different tubular cast on methods; this is the one I currently prefer. I won’t say it’s the Best Method Ever—that’s subjective, and I’m fickle. It’s the one I used for these samples, and it worked well for me. Here’s how you do it: Continue reading →

No sooner am I home…

| eelliottknits

…than I’m off again. It feels like I just got back from DC (wait, I did just get back—I’ve only been home a week), and I’m packing to head up to Toronto. This trip is for fun: my sister, who lives up in the T dot, is getting married to a lovely man, and the clan is gathering for the event. My other sister has rented a cottage, so there will be city time and lake time and family time and time with old friends from the punk rock stompin’ around town years. Many of my internet friends are gathering while we’re there (for another wedding—apparently it’s the thing to do right now), so there will also be time with old friends I’ve never met in real life. And there will be knitting. I got shockingly little knitting done during TNNA, and hooboy, am I going to make up for that in the next couple of weeks. (See above re: lake time: there’s a whole nine glorious days of it.) Of course, most of it will be work knitting, but that’s my favourite kind of work, so I don’t mind one bit.  Continue reading →

Line and Shadow

| eelliottknits

Goodness, it’s been a while. This spring has been a full one, with no sign of slowing down for the summer. The drawback is that a lot of the busyness has been working on projects that I can’t talk about online yet, so my posts are starting to read like a catalogue of pattern releases. I hate when that happens—I recently set up a mailing list for pattern release announcements to try to move this space towards less sell-y content—which is probably why it’s taken me so long to post about Line and Shadow. However, the sample is going to TNNA with me to be displayed in the Shibui Knits booth (the sample, that is—I’m not nearly as good at staying still. It’ll be in booth 389.) I’m pretty chuffed about that, plus it’s well past time, so here goes. Continue reading →

Meltwater Scarf

| eelliottknits

As a fan of woolly wool, I really like Brooklyn Tweed‘s yarns. I’ve noodled around with Shelter and Loft, and just love the light, spongy, cohesive fabric these woolen-spun yarns create, and the wide range of lovely, heathered colours are a colourwork fan’s dream. It pleases me that these beautiful yarns are made sheep to skein here in North America. (I love the house yarns by the mill they use, Harrisville Designs, for all the same reasons.) So when Brooklyn Tweed released Quarry late last year, just as I was finishing the next round of samples for photography, I had to try it. A bulky weight yarn at 200 yds/100g? I could get a hat out of that in no time at all, and have one more sample ready to go. When the skein arrived, I played around with stitch patterns to see what it could do, and it turned out that what Quarry does really well is texture. Ribs and cables turned out beautifully. I didn’t want to stop knitting with it: I wanted a big, generous scarf out of this stuff. Not the most practical thing for the South, but fie on that. Sometimes you just have to go where the inspiration takes you. I ordered more skeins, and knit. And knit. And very soon I had a scarf. And it was exactly what I’d pictured. It’s warm and cozy and the pattern reminded me of runnels of melting ice water, so I called it Meltwater.

Meltwater Scarf 1 | thecusserknits.com Continue reading →

Achievement unlocked: Ready Steady Go in Twist Collective

Ready Steady Go hat | thecusserknits.com
| eelliottknits

I’ve been a fan of Twist Collective since they started out in 2008. An online-only knitting magazine, Twist Collective has always been about treating their designers and writers well while producing a magazine that people will enjoy reading from the first virtual page to the last. The result is a beautiful publication with a reputation for excellent writing and interesting, high quality knitting patterns.

When I started designing, one of my goals was to get a piece published in Twist Collective. ‘This one might be Twist-worthy’ became shorthand in our home for a design idea I found especially pleasing. Then, last spring, they put out a call for submissions that fit perfectly with an idea I’d been working on. I thought this design might be Twist-worthy, and it turns out that they agreed with me: my latest design, the Ready Steady Go set, is in the new edition of Twist Collective. You get all three patterns together for $6 USD, which is a pretty good deal, no? Continue reading →

Gyre, revised (and on sale)

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When Jill Zielinski (a.k.a. Knitterella) did my snazzy new pattern layout, I decided to redo some of my previously published patterns with the new look. I’d be selective about it—redoing layout takes more time than one would think (at least, if I’m doing it), and that time often would be better spent making shiny new patterns—but there some of my earlier patterns are still pretty popular, and I’d like the good people who buy them to have the best version I can give them.

On the top of the list was Gyre: my swirly, colourwork cowl with the optional striped lining. This pattern needed new photos, though, and it took a while to get that together. Now the new photos are here, and they’re fabulous (in my not-unbiased opinion, and thanks entirely to the talented Gale Zucker and model Ariana McLean), and it’s time. The new version of Gyre is now on Ravelry, and it’s 30% off until November 10. You don’t need a coupon code: the discount will be applied at checkout.

The revision turned out to be more work than I expected (surprise!); I think the results are worth it. For one thing, look at these photos:

Gyre cowl, lined | thecusserknits.com Continue reading →