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The Indie Design Gift-A-Long Launched Today!

So here’s something exciting: a whole group of independent designers got together on Ravelry a few weeks ago and decided to put together a promotion/knit & crochet-along for the months of November and December (just in time for gifting, hence the “Gift-A-Long” name).

Here’s how the Gift-A-Long works. From Nov. 1 – Nov. 15, participating designers are discounting select patterns by 25% with the coupon code giftalong. You can see a list of all discounted patterns here in the Ravelry thread. I’ve decided to apply the discount to all of my self-published patterns–because hey, sometimes people deserve a hat, and sometimes they deserve a sweater, right? Or maybe you want to knit a “gift” for yourself… that’s okay too. :-)

Once you’ve got a participating pattern (or even if you had one already), you can knit (or crochet) along with others in the Indie Gift-A-Long Ravelry group until December 31st.

Also! There are prizes. Really, really good prizes. There’s a full list of them here. I donated a few awesome skeins of yarn I had in my stash. If you’re interested in the chance to win any of these, hop on over to the Gift-A-Long group and check it out!

Tosh Merino Light in Badlands

(Green yarn only) 2 skeins Crystal Palace Kid Merino

Fleece Artist Blue Face Leicester Aran

numma numma panna

Malabrigo Arroyo in Sabidura

Hitch Blog Tour!

I’m delighted to be a stop on the blog tour for Hitch: Patterns Inspired by the Works of Alfred Hitchcock!

The book is now available in both print and digital (PDF) formats. If you haven’t had a chance to check out the patterns in the book, you can see images at the link above or on the Ravelry page for the book here. The patterns and styling for the book are, in a word, stunning.

My pattern in the book is the Francie Scarf:

I was so excited to have the chance to contribute to this book. While I wouldn’t call myself a die-hard Hitchcock fan, I am a huge Grace Kelly fan. She epitomizes style, and, well, grace in every movie.

Inspired by the above promotional shot from To Catch a Thief (definitely a contender for my favorite Hitchcock movie) and many shots of Grace Kelly in gorgeous headscarves, I decided to propose one for the book.

Now, this was definitely out of my comfort zone. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you probably know I tend to stick to sweaters, hats, and mittens, not shawls or lace scarves. Because of this, I knew I didn’t want to make the headwrap too complicated. I decided on a square shape (since this would be most conducive to folding) with no shaping.

The lace pattern is simple enough to memorize quickly, but it still requires attention and thus keeps the knitter’s interest. The yarn I used, Tactile Fiber Arts Larkspur Lace, is a scrumptious blend of alpaca and silk. The Pomegranate colorway I used just glows. Check out these amazing other colorways Larkspur Lace comes in:

The finished piece is light and airy, perfect for scrunching up and wrapping around the neck, or for folding and wearing over the hair. It would be a great piece to pack when traveling, since it provides just a bit of extra warmth and a pop of color against a neutral outfit.

I like to think Ms. Kelly would have approved. :-)

Make sure to check out the rest of the blog tour for fun behind-the-scenes info:

9/28/2013: Sunset Cat Designs
10/5/2013: Knitting Kninja
10/5/2013: Knit One, Heart Too Podcast
10/7/2013: Herrlichkeiten
10/8/2013: Knit and Travel
10/9/2013: Knit & Knag Designs
10/10/2013: Wooly Wonka Fibers
10/11/2013: Verdant Gryphon
10/15/2013: Impeccable Knits: Shifting Stitches
10/16/2013: Rewolluzza
10/21/2013: Knitwear Designs by Carolyn Noyes
10/22/2013: Peacefully Knitting
10/23/2013: Dark Matter Knits
10/24/2013: Turnknit: Dani Berg Designs
10/25/2013: SweetGeorgia Yarns
10/28/2013: doviejay knits
10/29/2013: Triona Designs You are here!
10/30/2013: Tactile Fiber Arts
11/4/2013: A Knitter’s Life
11/5/2013: Catchloops
11/6/2013: Yarn On The House
11/07/2013: Ramblings
11/12/2013: Hazel Knits
11/13/2013: Knitcircus
11/19/2013: indigodragonfly
11/9/2013: Fyberspates
11/25/2013: knittingkirigami
11/22013: A B-ewe-tiful Design

Rhinebeck 2013 Wrap-Up

Rhinebeck was amazing this year. The weather was even better than last year (about 10 degrees cooler, which made it perfect sweater weather). I bought some great stuff, ate some excellent meals, and had a ton of fun.

My husband took a photography class with Gale Zucker (aka She Shoots Sheep Shots) and had a great time taking pictures all weekend. So he gets the credit for all these photos.

The gorgeous fall colors

Crowds waiting to get in on Sunday-there were at least twice this many on Saturday!

One of the many barns stuffed with vendors, yarn, and people

Woolly friends

Me enjoying a cider donut (it was delicious!!!)

The colossal line for Miss Babs’s booth–it was like this all weekend!

And, of course, I couldn’t have a Rhinebeck post without showing you my purchases, hehe.

First up, a huge skein of Dirty Water Dyeworks Johanna, which will probably become a vest or short-sleeved sweater:

These six skeins of O-Wool Balance Bulky are going to become a cabled shawl/wrap:

And finally, my husband picked out these two skeins of Green Mountain Spinnery Mountain Mohair, for gloves he’s going to knit himself:

Not pictured: a Barbara Walker stitch treasury that I’ve had trouble finding in stores, maple cotton candy, a huge bag of local apples.

I think we did pretty well this year!

FO Friday and New Pattern Release: Reilly Pullover

Boy, things have been crazy around here! Rhinebeck was awesome, and I promise to have a post up on that in the next few days. But in the meantime, I have had not one, not two, but three new sweater patterns released this week! So as not to overwhelm this post completely, I’ll space them out into separate posts.

First up: a design in Knit Picks’s newly released Swish Collection, the Reilly Pullover!

And here’s the original sample, the FO I couldn’t show you back around this time last year, in its glory at Rhinebeck:

Forgive the slightly glazed look and the slumped posture-it had been a long day!

My inspiration for this sweater was my love of Aran patterning, but I wanted to keep it simple because it’s easy for cables to overwhelm a sweater. I knew I wanted a large front cable, and two smaller ones. Making the side cables wavy seemed like a good way to add a modern touch.

Here are the FO details:

Pattern: My own Reilly Pullover

Yarn: Swish Worsted in Marine Heather (the green sweater is in Jade). I really, really like this yarn. It’s soft and nice to work with, but as you can see, cables pop just as well as they do with a stickier, more rustic wool.

Notes: This sweater combines three of my favorite elements: cables that are complex but not hard to keep track of, a v-neck, and raglan, all-in-one-piece construction.

Stay tuned for more Rhinebeck pictures!

WIP Wednesday: A Bunch of Teasers

Well geez, it’s been quiet around here lately, hasn’t it? It’s the usual reason: I’ve been working on commissioned designs that I can’t blog about. But I’m wrapping up the last of those today, just in time for…

My husband and I are hopping in the car on Thursday, driving to Buffalo to see a good friend, and then driving to Rhinebeck on Friday. We’ll be at the festival Saturday and half of Sunday, and then we’re going down to the Washington D.C. area to see family. Whew!

I have my car knitting all planned out. It will be fingerless mitts to match a hat I just designed, featuring this cable motif:I’m working on something exciting this fall: my first pattern collection! That’s another reason you haven’t seen much around this blog recently. It will include the hat and mitts above, a heavily cabled, fitted sweater, and at least two more patterns (probably another sweater or vest and a scarf/wrap).

My husband has family who live near Lake Tahoe, so I’m thinking of scouting out some photography locations when we go out west for the holidays. Anyone know anything about that area in the winter?

New Pattern Release: Surry Hat and Mitts!

I have two accessory patterns in the just-released Harrisville Designs Autumn 2013 Collection!

Here are the Surry Hat and Mitts:

I highly suggest checking out the other patterns in the collection, too. There are five lovely sweaters and a set of hat and boot toppers. I’m absolutely drooling over Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark’s Antrim:

I gushed about working with the WATERshed when I showed you the swatch picture, so I won’t bore you with more… but let’s just say I was really excited to hear Harrisville Yarns will be at Rhinebeck this year. Don’t be surprised if I’m showing off a sweater quantity of this yarn the week after Rhinebeck…

Interview on Harrisville Designs Blog

I recently designed some accessories for the Harrisville Designs Autumn ’13 collection, and today they have an interview with me up on their blog!

They haven’t released the collection yet, so no pictures of the finished items… but I can show you my swatch of the stitch pattern (shown in the blog post, so I’m not giving anything away).

The yarn I used, Harrisville WATERshed, was ammmaaaazzing. It looks like a crunchy, tweedy, rustic yarn, but it feels incredibly soft and lofty. I can’t wait to see the rest of the collection–and like I said in the interview, I’m definitely eyeing this yarn for a future sweater design.

FO Friday: Francie Scarf

I have an older FO to show you today: Francie Scarf, from the upcoming book Hitch: Patterns Inspired by the Films of Alfred Hitchcock!

Francie is a lace scarf with strong diagonal lines and a double moss stitch border, inspired by Grace Kelly’s wardrobe in To Catch a Thief. The scarf is big enough to wrap around the head, but it’s also thin enough to tie around the neck.

I’m not much of a lace knitter, but this stitch pattern was perfect for my tastes: simple enough to be easily memorized, but challenging enough so I didn’t get bored.

I’m participating in a blog tour for the book later this fall, so expect to hear more details about this design then!

I’ve gotten a chance to look through the whole Hitch book, and let me tell you, there are some spectacular patterns. It’s available for pre-order as of yesterday (and you get an awesome bonus pattern for a cute cowl).

And look–my scarf made the cover! :-D

ChaioGoo!

Remember this post from Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, where I gushed about ChiaoGoo needles and wished for a set?

Look what I got for my birthday from my awesome in-laws (with an assist from my husband):

That’s a full set of the red lace interchangeable needles, exactly what I wanted! The size US #9 is missing from the photo because it immediately got switched out for the needle I was using in my WIP. :-)

With the help of these needles, I’m working away on the Imperial Columbia sweater. After ripping out the yoke four times (urgh), I think I’ve finally got it figured out. Hopefully I’ll have pictures by next week!

FO Friday: Creme de Menthe

I’m running my biggest promotion ever to celebrate my 30th birthday tomorrow: 50% off any self-published pattern in my Ravelry store with the coupon code 50for30. The sale goes through the end of the day tomorrow (US Eastern Time).

Official business out of the way, here’s the FO Friday post for my Madelinetosh Twist DK vest!

We had a blast with the photoshoot. I wanted a fun vibe, since the vest is a little more kooky than some of my pieces. I think it turned out pretty well!

The specs:

Pattern: My own Creme de Menthe pattern, which will be in testing in the next few weeks and probably released in… late September? Early October?

Yarn: Madelinetosh Twist DK, two skeins of Bluestem Willow and one of Farmhouse White. I can’t say enough good things about this yarn. Squishy, springy, delightful to knit with. It’s only available through the Madelinetosh shop, and I confess I’ve been stalking it a bit for a sweater quantity in a deep green or blue.

Notes: Gosh I love this vest! I decided up front to do 2:1 stripes through the body, which made things very interesting when it went from knitting in the round to flat. But that was perfect–after all that stockinette, the interest of having to read the knitting and push the work from one side of the needle to the other added just the right amount of interest.

I’m writing the pattern with two different sections for that part: first, there will be a little summary for those who have some experience or feel comfortable checking it themselves. Second, there will be a table with row-by-row instructions for those who need a little more hand-holding. This is a new format for me, so I’m interested to see how my testers like it!

The planned stripe effect on the shoulders turned out great, if I do say so myself:

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