Wordless Wednesday: What I Love About Portland
A Holly Jolly Mini Swap Wrap-up
Another fun swap is in the books! An overview of the lovely and creative swap packages that jetted across the country in December:
I love that our group is so enthusiastic about the mini swaps, and I’m very grateful to our amazing swap organizer, Jen. A new swap is being organized right now. Knitters, we love to have new group members and new swappers (swapees?). If you’ve been thinking about it, come check it out here. Hurry, though, sign-ups close January 4th!
New Pattern: The Wayfarer Hat
Continuing the theme of travel and exploration is my newest pattern, The Wayfarer Hat, a companion to the Passport Mitts. A wayfarer is one who travels, especially on foot. Johnny Appleseed was a wayfarer, as are those who travel the Camino de Santiago. To my mind, a wayfarer is a wanderer, one open to what the road may bring, an explorer. Here then, is The Wayfarer Hat:
This hat is fun to knit and stylish to wear. The pattern is written for four sizes, fitting head sizes 18-25 inches. It is written for a snug fit and includes modifications for a more relaxed fit. It calls for Malabrigo Yarn Arroyo, a lovely sport weight in amazing colorways.
This is the original snug fit, worked in Malabrigo Yarn Arroyo in the colorway Indiecita:
This is Leanne’s lovely Wayfarer, knit in the Malabrigo Arroyo in the colorway Lavanda, relaxed fit:
This beautiful Wayfarer was knit by Alex, using madelinetosh Tosh DK in the colorway Cousteau. The madelinetosh shows the stitch definition beautifully. This is also the relaxed fit.
Martha’s gorgeous Wayfarer (relaxed fit) and Passport Mitts, at the Oregon Coast. Malabrigo Arroyo in the colorway Aguas:
I am offering an introductory special for The Wayfarer. Follow the link and enter the coupon code Wayfarer20 here for 20% off the regular price of $5.00. This code is good through 11:59 pm Pacific Time January 9, 2016.
Or, purchase Passport Mitts and The Wayfarer Hat together for the discounted price of $8.00, no coupon code needed, here: Passport Mitts/The Wayfarer Hat Set. If you have previously purchased one of the patterns, this link does not work and you will need to purchase the second pattern singly on Ravelry. In addition, it does not work if you have received one of the patterns for free.
I hope that you will check out this pattern. It was a joy to design and it is a joy to see it become a reality at the hands of other knitters. Thank you for letting me share it with you!
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas, dear friends. Tonight our cat Simba found this spot under the tree, and he looked so cute, I had to take a few pictures to share. Hoping that your day was warm and merry, filled with joy.
xoxo knit equals joy
Wordless Wednesday: A Day in Downtown Salem
Wordless Wednesday – Just a Cuppa
Passport Mitts Knitalong Wrap-up, and Something New
We wrapped up the Passport Mitts Knitalong (KAL) in my Ravelry group last month. We had a lovely time, with over 900 posts in the knitalong thread (meaning we’re chatty) and 13 finished pairs of mitts during the six weeks of the KAL. You can see all the lovely mitts as well as the prizes that were won here, in the FO (finished object) thread. I hope you’ll hop over there and take a look.
Here are some of the beautiful mitts, photos used by permission. Each of these knitters does beautiful work!
Joyce made two pairs, one for her daughter and another for herself, using Berroco Folio. She took a couple of pictures at the family farm:
I love this photo Heather took of mitts she was making with Lorna’s Laces Honor, in the colorway Gobsmacked (how perfect is that for a colorway name???):
Meg used Rowan Felted Tweed DK, in the colorway Scree. I also used Rowan Felted Tweed for my mitts, and loved the lightweight yet warm fabric it created:
Blue was a popular color for these mitts, and the other major contender was orange. Jen made beautiful mitts in Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light in the colorway Candied Yam, perfect for these pictures she took around Thanksgiving:
Alex made mitts in both of the popular choices, being the top finisher with three completed pairs of mitts! She made two pairs in Ella Rae Lace Merino DK in Orange and a pair in Classic Elite Yarns Inca Alpaca in the Navy Heather colorway.
Melanie made this stunning pair of mitts using Lion Brand LB Collection in White. It is amazing how white and natural yarns make cables pop. She bound off in pattern, which makes the top edge look like pearls. It’s not written that way in the pattern. but it is a wonderful modification.
Melanie wrote the following when she posted her finished mitts, and allowed me to share it here:
I completely love these mitts. Carol, this pattern is so classy and tasteful and beautifully written! I used Lion Brand 100% superwashmerino that I can only order from their online store. I ordered quite a bit of it several years ago, so this beautiful pair was knit from stash. The yarn shows awesome stitch definition, which is a perfect match for these mitts. The only problem I have is that I decided to make these for a friend… And now I want to keep them.
Thank you so much to everyone who participated. Your work is lovely and inspiring!
As a follow-up, my friends Leanne and Martha requested a hat pattern to go along with the Passport Mitts. We are currently testing the Wayfarer Hat, and the pattern will be available soon. The hat is written with the option to make it as a close-fitting beanie or to modify it for a slouchier fit. Stay tuned!
An Online Advent Calendar – Creative, Uplifting
I’m getting into the holiday spirit – and being helped by a lovely, fun and unique advent calendar, the 2015 Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar. A dear friend gifted it to me, and I’m loving it! It is a downloadable app for PC or iPad, and each day there is something new to unlock. The theme is Victoriana; the scene, a Victorian village. A Christmas playlist, designing your own snowflakes, decorating Christmas trees, and a game in which you break ornaments are a few of the features I have found so far. I love the design element of this application – the artistic and creative ways that someone applied her gifts to create something new. This is designed by a team, actually, but that makes it no less creative, to my view.
I hope you will go check out the demo video. This is a great Christmas gift idea – very reasonably priced, unique, and uplifting!
Pantone Announces 2016 Color of the Year
Pantone has announced its 2016 Color of the Year: Rose Quartz & Serenity. The Color of the Year is a big deal for the design community, so expect to see it in ready-to-wear, housewares, paint colors, yarn, even your nail wraps! Recent Colors of the Year have been Marsala (2015), Radiant Orchid (2014), Emerald (2013) and Tangerine Tango (2012).
For the first time, Pantone has blended two colors, a soft pink and a tranquil blue.
Joined together Rose Quartz and Serenity demonstrate an inherent balance between a warmer embracing rose tone and the cooler tranquil blue, reflecting connection and wellness as well as a soothing sense of order and peace.
-Leatrice Eisemen Executive Director, Pantone Color Institute
You can even download Color of the Year Wallpaper for your desktop!
What I find interesting are the Rose Quartz & Serenity Color Pairings. (Scroll about halfway down the page.) As you know, I love looking for pleasing color palettes. I think I would throw in some warmer or richer colors. Hmm…that sort of sounds like a personal challenge!
I have been drawn to these colors throughout 2015, as you can tell by the yarns I chose as prizes for our most recent knit-a-long!
It will be very interesting to see what happens with this color combination over the next year.
Every Time
This is a lovely post…about how sometimes something happens that changes our focus – whether it is something uplifting we have read, meeting up with friends, or taking delight in a little boon, surprise, or gift. Alex won one of the finished object prizes in our recent knitalong. It was a joy to send this yarn to her because she understands about beautiful yarn. Please enjoy this post as well as Alex’s blog, alexand knits.
I also wanted to add a link to Knot Another Hat, the yarn shop owned by Sarah Ericksen Keller. Sarah made the gorgeous, amazing yarn that is part of this story.
Oh, and that hat pattern Alex mentions is just about ready for testing… 😉
Stuff is hard right now, as I’ve mentioned. However, it seems like whenever I’m getting too down on myself, something happens to help me change my focus. Sometimes it’s a blog post that really strikes a chord for me, or a knitting group meetup, or getting a really cool free pattern or something. It often comes from my fiber community, local or virtual.
Today, it was this:
Envelope is facedown to protect the innocent
I was just sitting down to have a cup of half cocoa, half coffee, thinking about whatever random negative noise was in my head, and thought I would check the mail. I found an envelope and recognized the name on the return address right away. Here, you can open it with me:
In case you can’t tell, that’s yarn in there! To be specific, handspun yarn made of merino, silk and cashmere. It’s 168 yards of…
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