Good Monday evening to you all! I am so thrilled to let you know that the Bold Sweater is now available.
Bold is a comfy cropped sweater with fun texture detail on the extra-long cuffs, knit top-down with the stockinette side out. The jumbo cables are reversible, which means that if you weave the ends in carefully, you will have a completely reversible garment. It knits up quickly on large needles in Aran weight yarn, making this sweater a joy to make and to wear.
The sweater is written with a couple of inches of positive ease. Actual measurements are 34.25, 38.25, 42.25, 48.25, and 52.25 inches (87, 97, 107, 123, and 133 cm) at bust.
The cable is a 24 round repeat and the sweater ends with a round 24 of the cable, so plan on extra yarn if you want to make a longer sweater.
This pattern is currently free – through the end of July 2019.
Lindsay Newton PhotographyLindsay Newton Photography
The original name of this pattern was Bold…with undertones of chocolate…because that’s how I like my coffee (and the cables remind me of the swirls in my coffee). But it works for beer, too. Coffee or beer…you decide.
Thank you for your support and I wish you a most excellent week!
The Wibbly Wobbly Spa Cloth knit-a-long continues in my Ravelry group through May 15, 2018. Knitters have been creating lovely spa cloths, like these:
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Two weeks are remaining in the KAL, plenty of time to make your own Wibbly Wobbly Spa Cloth! The pattern is available here: Wibbly Wobbly Spa Cloth.
Did I mention that there are prizes? Prizes will be awarded randomly from the completed spa cloths. Here are a few of the great prizes:
Knitted Wit Victory Aran in Winter’s Night, 100% MerinoOne of a Kind ButtonSkein of Cascade Ultra Pima Fine (similar to pictured, not caked) & 1 Free Spa Cloth Pattern (any of my spa cloth patterns).
Please come check out the Knit Equals Joy Ravelry group and the knit-a-long. The more the merrier! And happy May Day (what’s left of it)!!
This pumpkin’s going to Rhinebeck (AKA the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival)! If you’re going, stop by Weston Hill Farm‘s booth in Building A, 42-43. The pumpkin and some of my patterns will be there. While you’re there, check out their amazing yarn, roving, and Eileen’s amazing felted sculptures!
Weston Hill Farm Worsted Weight Yarn
Eileen and Chris chose the spider motif as their favorite, and I set to work. The darker yarn is their sport weight, which worked fine for the colorwork sections. I held it double for the stem, which created quite the gnarly stem! To go with this stem, a weighty, dramatic button was needed, and I found this button in Mom’s button tin. I’m not sure whether it was Mom’s or Grandma’s, and I’m not sure of the vintage (50’s-70’s?), but it was the perfect finishing touch.
If you go, let me know if you see the pumpkin! Have a wonderful time!!!
xoxo
Carol
P.S. If you’re looking for the pattern, you can find it here, $5.00:
I’m thrilled to announce my newest pattern, Large Colorwork Pumpkins! Inspired by a love of all things Fall and an enduring love of colorwork, this softee pattern is just pure fun to knit and creates a lovely work of art. One pattern, four motifs. There is also an optional top that makes more of an oblong pumpkin.
This pumpkin is pretty much life-sized, about 12 by 12 inches, depending on which motif you choose and how much stuffing you use.
Knit using worsted weight yarn on size 5 needles, you will need about 200 yds each of two contrasting colors and some scrap yarn for the tendrils. You will also need fiberfill – my favorite after making three of these is Cluster Stuff by Morning Glory.
And the button! While the button is optional, I think it really adds personality to each pumpkin. This button came straight out of Mom’s button tin, and I think it was perfect!
This button is a ceramic button from One of a Kind Buttons. Her buttons are fabulous!
Within the pattern are instructions for the various increases, decreases and i-cord. However, the pattern does presume that you have a working knowledge of colorwork and working in the round.
Here is Ravelry user cascott’s Haunted Village pumpkin. Isn’t it adorable? I love how she staged it with her homegrown real pumpkins! I have added more detail to the Haunted Village motif since this pumpkin was knitted.
For even more options, you can knit this pattern using sock yarn and smaller needles – I would suggest US Size 1 or 2. This pumpkin ended up being about 6 or 7 inches in diameter.
Here’s the pumpkin with the oblong top, knit by Ravelry user PLC1. Her button was perfect, too!
The pattern is available in my Ravelry store for $5.00. This button will take you right to checkout:
Thank you also to Ravelry user greenhorngirl for the use of her photo of her jack-o-lantern pumpkin at the top of the page.
Thanks for your support. It means so very much to me!
The 2015 Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival was wonderful! Amazing, inspiring, fun, local(ish), lovely – a great success!!! Held November 6-8th at the Fort Dalles Readiness Center, this was truly a first-class event.
I traveled up with my good friend and fellow designer, M.E. Greene, Olive Knits. We had so much fun on our road trip, seeing the beautiful Oregon countryside on the way up and back, and waxing rhapsodic about the entire experience on the way home.
I was fortunate to be able to take three classes. On Friday afternoon, I took Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s class, Knit Smart. Stephanie is a kick in the pants. If you have read any of her books, you might imagine that she could be a stand-up comedian. She’s the same in person…she has that comic timing thing down pat. At any rate, the class was an overview of knitting principles: basic concepts that we may or may not have picked up in today’s less formalized approach to knitting education. Most interesting to me were learning about the components of knitted fabric: courses and wales. I was also interested in causes of consistently loose or tight knitting.
…OK, well. My pictures of that class are completely blurry and useless. So instead, I’ll send you to Stephanie Pearl McPhee’s website. Her take on her visit to Oregon is hilarious and spot-on at the same time!
The Saturday classes I took were near and dear to my heart. Marie and I took two classes from a favorite sweater designer of both of ours, Norah Gaughan. Her designs are amazing. I particularly enjoyed slide shows in which she shared the inspiration for many of her designs. The classes were Creative Geometric Design and Knitting Polygons. So much fun! Norah was a sweetie and her classes were such fun, too.
Norah demonstrating using a geometric shape in design, and Marie modeling.
Next, we got to work with the fleece we brought to come up with our own creative design based on geometric shapes. We learned that fleece is great for this because it drapes in much the same way as knit fabric and so is great to use for templates. Here I am – this one is going to have a square neckline.
In the afternoon class, we worked with fun shapes such as pentagons and hexagons. You can see them in the edging of the sweater I’m modeling below. It’s one of Norah’s, which I borrowed just for this picture. I wanted to take it home with me! It fit like a dream. Marie and I were total fangirls!
Left to right: Me, Norah Gaughan, Marie. Marie and Norah wearing sweaters of their own design.
This festival was no exception! Saturday night there was a banquet, with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee as the keynote speaker. I got to hang out with Marie and these two friends, Leanne and Martha. The four of us met for breakfast Sunday, as well, and had such a lovely time!
Stephanie’s keynote speech was very inspiring, and funny, of course. She began by mentioning the propensity of some to aver that many of us are “addicted” to knitting, yarn, and the fiber arts. As you can imagine, there are many appropro comparisons. But in reality, we knit because we know it’s good for us. It makes us better. We are happy when we have faced and overcome something that is a challenge to us. That’s what’s great about knitting, there’s always something new to learn and to try. It’s also why I love designing!
Finally, here’s my stash enhancement:
I just can’t wait to get my hands into this beautiful yarn!!! Can’t wait to see what it will become!
The trip home was filled with chatter, with exclamations about the inspiration we had garnered from the instructors and speakers. The landscapes on the drive home seemed especially beautiful – sunlight through rain creating such depth of color. So blessed to live where there is such beauty.
And finally, the whole festival was done so well. Everything was top quality, from the venue to the marketplace to the slate of instructors and the banquet. I’m already thinking about the CGFF 2016!
