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WIP Wednesday: Dream Sweater

I finally got a chance to get started on my new sweater design! (See this post for details.)

I am completely in love with this project. The Tosh TML is amazing to knit and to look at, and the pattern has just the right amount of juggling to keep me interested (the twisted rib on the back, raglan increases, and neck increases).

We’ll see if I still love it later….

Happy Surprise!

Why helloooo, Knit Picks fall catalog. I received you two days ago, but now I finally have time to flip through…

And look whose Hipster Stripe Cardigan is featured on page 8!

Isn’t the model adorable? She totally looks like she’s thinking hipster thoughts, heh.

Another design milestone!

New design brewing…

I’m already thinking hard about how to use my beautiful Tosh Merino Light from the last post…

…and after some sketching and swatching, I think I have a winner!

I went back and forth on the “interesting rib” I wanted to do… and finally decided on this nice mock-cable rib:

I love mock cables. They’re easy to do, require no cable needle, and look just as pretty as “real” cables.

So now that all that’s decided… I’m waiting until September 22nd to cast on. Sigh. I want to participate in a knit-along with the members of the Madelinetosh Lovers group on Ravelry, and that’s the official start date.

Until then, I have a sweater pattern to finalize and some winter accessory swatching to do. That sounds like fun too, don’t get me wrong… but I can’t wait to get my hands on the Tosh!

Birthday Wrap-Up, Part 2

I was planning to blog about the rest of my birthday presents (first post here) last week, but I’m participating in a few writing contests and the time just got away from me.

Without further ado, the rest of my yarny presents!

My mother-in-law isn’t a knitter, but she is a painter. To my delight, she decided a few years ago that choosing from all the scrumptious Madelinetosh colors was her idea of a seriously good time. Remember Blue Betty and Chandail? Yep, the yarn for both of those sweaters came straight from her.

I think she outdid herself this year.

That’s five (count em! Five!) skeins of Tosh Merino Light in Worn Denim. Is that gorgeous or what? I love blues and greens, so this is pretty much nirvana in skein form.

Just looking at the pictures is making me drool. I’m thinking a sweater with lace details for this.

And just when I thought no one could top the presents from both of my fantastic mothers, my husband gives me this:

That’s a skein of yarn he hand-dyed in my favorite color, just for me. The picture doesn’t do it justice–it’s a stunning tonal green, with perfect darker and lighter bits interspersed throughout. I’m thinking a hat for this, but I’ll have to choose carefully, because I’m not about to waste this amazing skein.

I am seriously the luckiest person ever.

Birthday Wrap-Up

My birthday was a few days ago, and I have to tell you–I was stunned by the quality of my knitting-related gifts! My nearest and dearest know I love yarn and yarny things, obviously, but this year they seriously outdid themselves.

In fact, I have so much to show that I’m breaking it into several blog posts!

First up, my lovely mom:

(Please note: Mom is a non-knitter. This makes the following all the more impressive.)

On her own, she found a friendly LYS (Always In Stitches). She asked the ladies there for advice on what to get, and when they recommended a ruffled scarf yarn she nicely said, “Well, she’s not that type of knitter, actually.” She then proceeded to proudly show them my Ravelry design page and project page so they’d understand!

After that was established, Mom said they all had an absolute ball picking out yarns after that (a LOT of yarns. She went sort of bananas in the store, let me tell you). I had just told her my favorite colors for yarn were blue, green, and purple, and obviously she was listening.

Here’s what she got me (looking at these pictures, I’m still a little overwhelmed!).

4 skeins Malabrigo Worsted in Purple Mystery and Emerald

JoJoLand superwash in a few different colors/weights:

Crystal Palace Kid Merino in two different (gorgeous!) colors:

Debbie Bliss Angel Prints:

Crazy Zauberball Self-Striping:

And as if all that weren’t enough, she also got me a bunch of notions and fun things:

That’s a Knit Happy sticky note organizer, HiyaHiya Puppy Snips, a Lantern Moon sheepy tape measure, and my personal favorite, an absolutely adorable Black Sheep umbrella. The umbrella is from the Dublin Gift Company, and the ad copy for the product says, “Adorning this umbrella is one black sheep with a shamrock on his arse among a flock of white.” Love it!

The last item was this awesome shelf sitter:

Truer words were never spoken.

Thanks, Mom!!!!

New Pattern Release: Blue Betty!

Remember Blue Betty?

She’s all grown up and released as a pattern! I’m so thrilled about this one. It only took me a few weeks to go from concept to sweater, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. I think I achieved my original goal–a bust-friendly colorwork sweater!

Blue Betty is available to purchase for $6.00. The specs and the purchase link can be found on this page of my website, or on the Ravelry pattern page here.

A few gratuitous glamour shots:

In my head, this picture is named Betty Boobs.

FO Friday: Hand-dyed skeins!

So I may have mentioned a time or two that my husband is awesome. Today, I present further proof. He was looking for an artistic hobby, something to combine his love of color and his desire to work with his hands.

He decided to try yarn dyeing. Yes, that’s right.

Yarn dyeing.

Be still my heart.

He finished up his first mini-test skeins today and I got some pictures!

He layered purples and blues on this one. Isn't it gorgeous??

My favorite shade of blue!

The skeins are small, but I think there’s enough for me to make a killer striped project. I think the colors will play nicely together. Maybe a pair of fingerless gloves or a hat? (They’re worsted weight.) Anyone have a suggestion?

FO Friday: Knit Your Own Adventure Hats!

I have a new pattern release and three FOs to show off today: my Knit Your Own Adventure Hats!

Here are the specs:

Pattern: my own pattern, Knit Your Own Adventure Hats (Ravelry link, since I haven’t put the pattern page up on this website yet–bad Triona!). All three hats were knit from the same pattern. It includes 3 edgings, 3 cable patterns, and 3 crown decreases, all mix-and-matchable.

Side note: did anyone else love the Choose Your Own Adventure books when they were younger? I used to use scraps of paper to mark all the places where I’d have to make choices so I could go back if I didn’t like the outcome.

Yarn: Wool of the Andes worsted weight in Fairy Tale, Jalapeño, and Hyacinth. I used about 1.5 skeins per hat (around 160 yds). This is a really nice yarn: it’s definitely in the workhorse category, but it’s not itchy and comes in great colors. It’s very reminiscent of Cascade 220, one of my favorites.

Notes: These are pretty awesome hats, if I do say so myself. They’re long enough to cover the ears (a major requirement for me when cold weather rolls around). The purple one is finished with a slouchy crown, so now I can choose whether I want one of the warmer beanies or the hipper, less warm hat.

And isn’t my model adorable? She’s my friend Cheryl, who apparently cannot look bad in a picture. I had tons of good ones to choose from after this photo shoot.

I had fun taking glamour shots of the hat components in my lightbox for the pattern, too. The crown ones were stretched over a balloon, which worked surprisingly well!

FO Friday: Arwen Slipper Socks

I finished these last week, but I’m just now getting around to blogging them:

Pattern: Arwen Slipper Socks (Ravelry link) by Tabitha’s Heart

Yarn: Malabrigo Rios in Indecita

Notes: I LOVE these. They are fabulously colorful and comfy, and they fit my size 9.5 narrow feet like a dream. I got them both out of one skein of Rios with 10g to spare.

My only modification to the pattern was to eliminate the plain round between decrease rounds for the last 4 toe decreases, since it was turning out a little too pointy for my taste as written. This made a lovely rounded toe:

I’m not generally a sock person (too much work for something that wears out too quickly, in my experience), but slipper socks in worsted weight are right up my alley. In fact, I had so much fun knitting these that I immediately started in on a design idea I had a while back. There may be bobbles involved. Stay tuned for an update on those!

Numma numma panna (fun to say, try it!)

I won a contest in one of my Ravelry groups and received my prize a few days ago: a gorgeous skein of yarn!

This is panna worsted weight by numma numma (which is really fun to say, try it!). It is SO SQUISHY. I can’t properly express in words how wonderfully squishy it is. It’s like Malabrigo Worsted, but MORE SO. And I don’t say that lightly, people.

So obviously this needs to be a mega-special design, one that’s worn right next to the skin. I’m thinking mittens, maybe? Not sure I can get two mittens out of 200 yds of worsted, though. Fingerless mittens? A cute beanie?

Any ideas?

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