knitting patterns

October, Pumpkins, a Wedding

Posted on October 17, 2020 by Carol

Hey everyone! It’s a chilly October morning here, gray and drab, but cozy inside. We’re drinking coffee and trying to decide what to do with the day.

The Pumpkin-a-Long (PAL) continues! I’m giving away free patterns weekly – randomly chosen from those who either email a photo of their pumpkin progress to knitequalsjoy@gmail.com or post their pictures on Instagram with the tag #pumpkinalong2020. At the end (Thanksgiving) there will be a random drawing for some Amanda Hope yarn, a felted pumpkin, and other prizes, drawn from the pool of finished pumpkin projects that were emailed or posted as above during the PAL.

If this appeals to you, please join us, and invite your friends!

I love this pumpkin that Carla made:

And this one by Ginny:

Pattern: Plaid Pumpkin, using instructions for the one-color pumpkin

I made my original “Because…Pumpkins” pumpkins using Amanda Hope Yarns. I used their Aussie Extra Fine Fingering (100% Merino – yummmmm!) held together with their Superkid Mohair/Silk (also yummmmm!). Working with the two of them held together is heavenly! They create an amazingly soft and halo-y fabric. If you look closely, you can see that the colors are slightly tonal. Tonals are my very favorite – the color changes stitch-to-stitch invariably keep my interest, even when working miles of stockinette.

Check out their website: Amanda Hope Yarn and see Because Pumpkins featured in their opening slides (thank you, Wendy)!!!

If you follow on Facebook or Instagram, you know that our younger son got married last month. It was a joyous – outside, small, and socially distanced – occasion, and we are thrilled for them and so happy to welcome our new daughter-in-law to the family. It was truly a sweet ceremony and represented them so well. My pictures here were taken by cell phone, so I apologize that they’re not very clear.

This year I have truly missed my trips to the Oregon Coast. I’m hoping to take a few days there around Thanksgiving and to have some pictures to share with you here.

I hope that you and yours are safe and well. I hope that you can enjoy some fall festivities, fall knitting, or some fun fall decorating. Pumpkins are always good! 😉

All the best,

Carol

KAL, Knit-a-Long, knitting pattern, knitting patterns, Pumpkin-a-Long

New Pumpkin Pattern, PAL, Discount

Posted on October 2, 2020February 23, 2021 by Carol

I’m thrilled to announce that this year’s pumpkin pattern is now live! It’s called It’s Fall, Y’all.

It’s Fall, Y’all features chevrons – made simply, through the use of increases and decreases. The fabric is created by holding a fingering weight yarn together with a mohair yarn, which produces a shimmery fabric with a soft halo. You can make two shapes/sizes with this pattern, a short pumpkin and a tall one.

You can purchase the pattern here Buy Now or find it in the Pattern tab or Pumpkin-A-Long Patterns tab at the top of the webpage.

I’m so happy with the way this pattern turned out. I hope you will enjoy it!

Speaking of pumpkins. come knit some pumpkins with us during the third annual Pumpkin-A-Long (PAL)!

The PAL goes through Thanksgiving.
All of the Knit Equals Joy pumpkin patterns are eligible. Pumpkin-A-Long Patterns
Discount through October 15, 2020 using coupon code PALpumpkins here on the website or my Payhip store.
If on Instagram, use the tags #pumpkinalong2020 and #knitequalsjoy.
If you’re not on Instagram, email your finished pumpkin pictures to me at knitequalsjoy@gmail.com.
Prizes.
Post this picture to your Instagram feed if you would like to announce your pumpkin love!

If you are local, join the PAL at Wild Knits Salem! In collaboration with Holly, we are offering a special discount on the patterns to the LYS patrons. I’m so excited that this is happening locally this year!

If you are an LYS owner or indie dyer, contact me at knitequalsjoy@gmail.com if you’re interested in joining the PAL and/or offering the pattern to your customers.

Have a wonderful weekend! Please share your pumpkins on IG, and tag me @knitequalsjoy so I can see your wonderful Autumnal creations. The happiest of Falls to all of you.

xoxo

Carol

knitting, knitting patterns, sweater knitting, sweater pattern, test knitters, test knitting

News!! News!! News!!

Posted on July 16, 2020August 11, 2020 by Carol

Hi everyone!

I hope this finds you all safe and well!

I’m thrilled to announce that the Ethereal Sweater pattern is now available in Spanish. Designer Marcela Chang, who hails from Chile, has added pattern translation to the services she offers, so I took her up on it. Now when you purchase the pattern here on knitequalsjoy.com or on my Payhip or Etsy shops, you will receive two PDFs, one in English and one in Spanish. I’m looking forward to offering more patterns in Spanish, as well.

Also news – my patterns are now available for purchase right here on knitequalsjoy.com. I am so happy to offer this capability to you now – it’s at least one step easier than before. Just go to the Patterns tab in the navigation bar and find the pattern(s) you want. You can sort under tags and you can also search now. And to celebrate, use the coupon code shopthewebsite2 from July 25th to August 16th for 25% off. The coupon is good on all Knit Equals Joy patterns purchased through knitequalsjoy.com.

The last bit of news is that I’ve designed a Little Ethereal. It’s currently in tech editing, and when it is through that process, it will be ready for test knitting. I’ll be looking for a few test knitters who have a little one available who can try on the sweater and also maybe provide some great pictures – because I don’t have any little ones nearby and no grands yet. Additionally, I will be looking for testers who can knit this pretty quickly and who have previously completed test knits. If this sounds like you and sounds like something you would like to do, please email me at knitequalsjoy@gmail.com. I wanted to give my fabulous knitting friends first stab at this, and then will offer the test on Yarnpond. The sizes are 0-6 mo, 6-12 mo, 1-2 yr, 2-4 yr, 4-6 yr, 6-8 yr, and 8-10 yr, and it is knit in fingering weight yarn.

I have a couple of vacation days coming up, so I’m hoping that I can start working on 2020’s pumpkin design. I have some great yarn for it, and I think it will be a cute but not too difficult addition to the pumpkin patch! Now that Little Ethereal is written up and out of my head, I’m starting to get excited about pumpkins and the 2020 Pumpkin-A-Long! I hope you will join in!!!

xoxo

Carol

knitting, knitting pattern, knitting patterns

Another Free Pattern and Another Pattern Sale!

Posted on May 3, 2020July 15, 2020 by Carol

It’s a May Pattern Sale!!!

First of All, the Free Pattern

DOWNLOAD THE FREE PATTERN PDF THROUGH JUNE 30, 2020. This special offer has now expired.

You can read more about this pattern here: Wibbly Wobbly Spa Cloth Pattern Page or find it in the website’s pattern menu.

I hope you enjoy this pattern!

Knit Equals Joy Pattern Sale on Etsy

During the month of May, enjoy $1 off your purchase in my Knit Equals Joy shop on Etsy. This coupon is applied to your cart at purchase, so if you’d like to use it for multiple patterns (please do!), I would suggest purchasing them one at a time. Use the code MAYJOY at checkout.

A few of the patterns you’ll find in my Etsy shop

Click here to go to my Etsy shop.

Hoping that you and yours are remaining safe and well.

xoxo
Carol

knitting, knitting pattern, knitting patterns

Two Free Patterns and a Pattern Sale

Posted on April 4, 2020March 31, 2022 by Carol

It’s an April Pattern Sale!!!

First of All, the Two Free Patterns

DOWNLOAD THE FREE PATTERN PDF THROUGH JUNE 30, 2020. This special offer has now expired.

You can read more about this pattern here: Gnome Spa Cloth Pattern Page or find it in the website’s pattern menu.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE PATTERN PDF THROUGH JUNE 30, 2020. This special offer has now expired.

You can read more about this pattern here: Wee Pumpkin Pattern Page or find it in the website’s pattern menu.

I hope you enjoy these patterns!

Knit Equals Joy Pattern Sale on Etsy – sale has ended

For the month of April 2020, enjoy $1 off your purchase in my Knit Equals Joy shop on Etsy. This coupon is applied to your cart at purchase, so if you’d like to use it for multiple patterns (please do!), I would suggest purchasing them one at a time. Use the code APRILJOY at checkout.

Click on the photo above or here to go to my Etsy shop.

Hoping that you all are staying safe and well.

xoxo
Carol

colorwork knitting, KAL, Knit-a-Long, knitting patterns, Pumpkin-a-Long

Fall, Mad About Plaid, Cheers to Ewe

Posted on September 17, 2019September 16, 2019 by Carol

Hey y’all! I hope everyone is enjoying these great (almost) Fall days! I’m so happy that football is back, and tonight we had some amazing pumpkin pasta with Autumn alfredo sauce. It was fabulous, and it tasted like Fall.

I know you’ve been seeing Plaid Pumpkin pictures all over the place along with a ton of Pumpkin-A-Long posts over the last few days. My apologies for the inundation of information – I wanted to get all the info out there at the beginning and have it in an easily accessible place for any general questions about how the PAL works.

Main things to remember: make any Knit Equals Joy pumpkin, post finished picture on Instagram with correct tags or in the Knit Equals Joy Facebook group; finish everything by Halloween. Prizes, fun. That’s it! This post: The Second Annual Pumpkin-A-Long (PAL) has all the details in much more detail-y form. The prizes are there now, too.

So, speaking of pumpkins and patterns, I recently started adding my designs to a new pattern site, PatternVine. I was drawn to the look of the site – it’s very lovely. I’ve slowly been updating my patterns – adding the new logo and better photos – and then adding them to PatternVine. I wanted my customers to have several different options available for purchasing my patterns.

Ladianne is one of the owners of PatternVine as well as of a yarn shop called Cheers to Ewe, and she purchased and is making the Large Colorwork Pumpkins pattern, spider version. Cheers to Ewe has a weekly show, and last Saturday they chatted a bit about my pumpkin patterns. I am of course biased because of that, but I really enjoyed the show. The enthusiasm was contagious, and you can tell they were having a good time. But I loved how the show was built around variations on a theme – plaid, in this case. If you have time and are so inclined, you might enjoy the show.

Enjoy the rest of your week, and happy knitting!

xoxo
Carol

knitting, knitting pattern, poncho, sweater pattern

Willow, Bold, and the next thing

Posted on April 6, 2019April 6, 2019 by Carol

This weekend, our weather app predicts 100% chance of rain. Usually they’re not so certain and like to hedge their bets a bit, but rain must be a pretty sure thing around these parts today and tomorrow. (And, actually, it’s pretty much been raining non-stop since I started the first draft of this post earlier this morning).

This changes my plans somewhat, but it’s always a pretty safe bet that my weekend forecast includes chance of knitting: 100%.

You may have seen that I recently published Willow.

The name Willow evokes all things graceful: willows are strong and elegant, and, well, willowy. I find myself wearing my Willow often. It’s great to throw on when I get home from work in the evenings; I often get chilled, but if I can get my shoulders warm, the rest of me is warm, and Willow does that for me.

Willow is worked flat using bulky/chunky weight yarn, then seamed together with two quick seams. There’s even a tutorial for the seaming, here: Cabled Poncho Seam. This would be a great pattern for someone just starting out with cables.

Beth made this beautiful purple Willow.

I love what she says about her Willow:

I finished my Cabled Poncho test knit for @knitequalsjoy and I LOVE it! I thought I wasn’t a poncho person…turns out I just hadn’t found the right one. I knit mine in @blueskyfibers Extra, (alpaca and merino blend) which has beautiful drape and will keep me warm! And of course, it’s purple.

Such beautiful knitting! Thank you, Beth!

Currently in testing is Bold…with undertones of chocolate. Now, whether you interpret that as referring to coffee or to beer is up to you!

Bold is an oversized sweater knit top down, seamless, and stockinette-side-out. It took a bit of engineering to get the sweater to be reversible and to include a giant cable, so I was thrilled when I was able to make it work. If the ends are worked in carefully, the sweater truly is reversible, and can be worn with either the stockinette or the reverse stockinette side out, depending on your whim.

The pattern will be available for 5 sizes ranging from 32-50 in. (bust measurement). If in between sizes, one can choose from the actual finished sizes for the best fit. It’s worked on size 8 and 9 needles, so it’s a pretty quick knit.

I’ve worn my Bold to work a couple of times and have felt like a million bucks in it each time.

The pattern should be released sometime in the summer or early fall.

Finally, I’m working on a new sweater design. I recently found this yarn by Yama Fibre Arts and was smitten by its colors and textures. This is the YAMA Merino Linen Singles in Grey Sage and Nomad B3.

I’m using the two colors together. It’s a subtle contrast, and I love it, but I can see this sweater in so many different color combinations.

A few designs seem to write themselves (like last year’s Autumn Spice Pumpkin ) – and this one seems to be doing that as well. I think the color, fiber content, and spin of the yarn must suggest what will work for the yarn. It doesn’t always happen; sometimes the yarn puts up a stubborn and dogged fight against my ideas for it, but that’s another story…

This is worked in fingering weight and small(ish) needles, so it will be in the works for awhile before it’s ready for testing. I’ll probably be posting lots of progress pictures on Instagram, so you can catch those in either the Instagram feed or the Knit Equals Joy Facebook page.

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend and that the chance of rain wherever you are isn’t 100%! Maybe your chance of knitting is.

xoxo

Carol

KAL, Knit-a-Long, knitting patterns, Ravelry

Gift-a-Long, More Favorites

Posted on November 27, 2018May 8, 2020 by Carol

As promised, here are a few more not-by-me designs that caught my eye during the Indie Design Gift-a-Long on Ravelry. I’ve linked to each pattern, and each one is 25% off through 11/29/18, 11:59 pm EST with the coupon code giftalong2018.

Adult Modular Cardigan Jacket by Loraine Birchall (Woolly Madly Deeply). Besides the lovely fit, the construction looks really interesting. I can definitely see this as a workday staple:

Party Bones by Stephanie Lotven (TellybeanKnits). You probably already know that I love the Day of the Dead:

Kicking Horse Mittens by Kate Bostwick (Cowtownknits). I love this look:

Festive Forest Cushion by Sandra Nesbitt. The colorwork is so clever and pretty:

Bunty MItts by Ella Austin (BomBella Designs). Loving this 70’s vibe:

Of course, as a participating designer, I have patterns on sale as well. They can be found here. Edit: the sale is now over, but the GAL continues through the end of the year! My patterns can be found here: Knit Equals Joy Designs

Check back tomorrow for my next group of favorites! Happy knitting!!!

xoxo

Carol

Indie Design Gift-a-Long, KAL, Knit-a-Long, knitting patterns, Ravelry

The Indie Design GAL – some of my favorites

Posted on November 25, 2018May 8, 2020 by Carol

Hi everyone! I’ve been spending some time going through the sale bundles of all 349 participating designers in the Indie Design GAL. It took quite some time, as I looked at the sale bundle of each one. If you don’t know about the GAL, it’s a knit-a-long/crochet-a-long on Ravelry. It runs through the end of the year, with games, prizes, and a discount for the first week.

349 designers (including me) are offering from 10-20 of their designs at 25% off until Thursday, November 29 at 11:59 PM EST.

I am one of the participating designers, so you can knit any of my paid patterns (even if you already own said patterns) during the GAL to be eligible for prizes. I’d love to see your finished projects in the GAL, if you feel so led to make one.

But I digress. As I said in the first paragraph, I browsed through every single one of the designers’ sale bundles to find my favorites. To be chosen as a favorite, the pattern had to be one that I’d like to make. You’ll notice that there are very few socks or shawls included. While I enjoy making those, I don’t seem to enjoy wearing them so much. That’s also why there are none of those yet in my portfolio (although I do want to add some shawl patterns eventually). Click here for my Bundle of Favorite Sales Patterns – GAL 2018. You should be able to view it even if you are not a Ravelry member. To be clear, these are not my patterns but patterns of some of the other 348 designers. EDIT: The sale is now over, but the GAL continues through the end of the year.

The two patterns I purchased immediately are these two:

Autumn Oak Leaves by Irina Ferrer (Davydova) – because I love everything Fall!:

Petal Drift by Christelle Nihoul – I have admired this ever since it was published:

I’ll share more favorites throughout the GAL, and if I am able to actually work on something by not-me, I will definitely share here about it. I hope you will check out the GAL; it might be just the thing to encourage your gift-giving knitting (and crocheting, too)!

Knit Equals Joy Designs, Knit-a-Long, knitting, knitting patterns, Pumpkin-a-Long, Ravelry

Pumpkin Party

Posted on October 30, 2018November 18, 2018 by Carol

The Fall colors have been great, the pumpkin spice lattes have been tasty, and the knit pumpkins have been a blast! I couldn’t wait any longer to share these beautiful pictures with you.

The Knit Equals Joy Pumpkin-a-Long goes through Halloween – which means it’s still possible to knit a Wee Pumpkin before the end of the PAL – you can make one while handing out treats Halloween night! The Wee Pumpkin pattern is just $1.25 or is free through November 10th if you have purchased any of my other pumpkin patterns. Look for the “free” promotion to return again in early 2019.