knitting, knitting patterns, pattern, Spa Cloth

The Folk Tales Spa Cloth Collection

Posted on September 13, 2016September 22, 2016 by Carol

The Folk Tales Spa Cloth Collection is here!

It all started with Fairy Godmother’s Spa Cloth in 2015, with the five remaining Fairy Tale and Folk Tale related spa cloths being released this year. Purchasing the collection offers substantial savings and gives you a wide variety of fun spa cloth patterns to make for your own home and for gift-giving.

castle-beach-spa-cloth-2-1024x975 — Castle Beach Spa Cloth

DSC_0214 (1024x858) — Cinderella’s Spa Cloth

Alex's - on Trunk (2) (1024x1024) — The Queen’s Spa Cloth, Photo by Alex (alexandknits), used by permission

melanies-framed-497x418 — Belle’s Spa Cloth, Photo by Melanie Arnold, used by permission

By WillowandTwist — Race Day Spa Cloth, photo by WillowandTwist, used by permission

Purchase all 6 patterns together for $4.00, no coupon code needed. This is a 47% savings over purchasing them separately at $1.25 each. Follow this link to purchase: Folk Tales Spa Cloth Collection .

I am not sure whether the link will work if you have previously purchased any of these patterns or received them for free. Give it a try and let me know how it works!

I hope you’ll take advantage of this special offer, and I hope you will enjoy the spa cloth collection!

P.S. Writing a Folk Tales Spa Cloth Collection e-book is in the works – but I wanted to go ahead and offer the special now.

knitting swaps

It’s Another Mini Swap!

Posted on August 31, 2016August 31, 2016 by Carol

I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Colorwork Mini Pumpkin with Fall Leaves — Mini Colorwork Pumpkin

Dear knitters, it’s time for the Autumn Mini Swap over in the Carol E Herman Designs group on Ravelry!

For this swap, participants will knit, crochet or sew a handmade autumn-themed item for their swap partner and will send a small (under $5) gift with it.

To quote my friend Jen, who is the amazing organizer of all things swap, and who says it better than I ever could (and who also provided the Anne of Green Gables quote):

Autumn…..sigh…..I have so much love for this season. Pumpkins, candy corn , crisp air, apples, apple pie, maple candy, glorious color, fall migration….. My list could go on FOREVER.

This mini swap celebrates friendship and the beauty of the Fall season. In this swap you will send your secret swap partner a lovely knitted, crocheted or sewn gift reminiscent of Autumn.

You can read all about it here. The important things to know are that sign-ups end September 5th and our mailing deadline is October 3rd.

Crafted possibilities include softees, mug rugs, fall garlands, spa cloths…

Jen's Patch and Candy (281x378) — Jen’s Patch and Candy Corn – Aren’t they adorable?

Our swaps are so much fun: such a great way to get to know other knitters, to create a lovely gift, and to look forward to receiving a surprise in the mail. Here is the post I wrote after the end of our last swap. I hope you will consider joining us!

knit equals joy

knitting, Ravellenic Games, Ravelry, Team Knit Equals Joy

The Ravellenic Games!

Posted on August 9, 2016May 8, 2020 by Carol

The Ravellenic Games are going strong on Ravelry. Team Knit Equals Joy is going strong at the Ravellenic Games.

Our team is small but mighty with 23 members currently showing up on the team rosters. Members can join our team at any time throughout the games.

The mass cast-on occurred last Friday in tandem with the Opening Ceremonies of the Rio Olympics. Since then, 12 projects have been completed by our team. Many more are in the works.

I’m working on this pair of socks for the Ravellenic Games:

These are my Smooth Operator Socks, pattern by Susan B. Anderson. The yarn is awesome; it’s Knitted Wit Victory Sock in the PDX Carpet colorway. I cannot wait to finish these!!! I don’t currently have any handknit socks to wear. I’m also taking part in the Smooth Operator Sock KAL in Susan’s Ravelry Group, Itty Bitty Knits. So much fun!

We’re all knitting away through the end of the Games. We’ve got a great collection of prizes; winners will be chosen randomly at the end from all the finished projects by our teammates. I’ve put together a lovely prize package and will choose a winner randomly from among those team members who make one of my patterns. All the details are in this thread in my Ravelry group (I haven’t posted a picture of the prize package yet, though).

I’ll leave you with some of the fun graphics that were made for our team:

Colorwork, an example of the laurels that are awarded for working certain techniques. These are our virtual awards!

Feel like challenging yourself and having fun while doing it? Come check out

Team Knit Equals Joy

Carol E. Herman Designs, knitting swaps, Ravelry

Summer Spa Swap II – Another Swap in the Books!

Posted on August 8, 2016May 8, 2020 by Carol

The Summer Spa Swap II – A Day at the Beach swap is now complete. It was a great swap; everyone was very creative, and I even designed the Castle Beach Spa Cloth for the swap! I love seeing the generosity poured into these swaps – even into these mini-swaps where we’re limited to spending just a little bit on the packages we send to our SPs (swap partners).

I love that our swaps are secret swaps. No one except for our amazing organizer Jen knows who is sending to whom. It’s such fun figuring out what your SP would like and then plotting and planning and putting together a special gift just for that person. It’s also great fun anticipating getting a package in the mail and then finding out who sent it. And I think our group also has fun admiring the creativity shown in the packages put together by each person as the packages arrive and as pictures and thanks are posted in the group.

One of my favorite things to do after each swap ends is to put together a collage of all the great swap packages – like this one:

I think our next mini-swap might be a Fall/Halloween mini-swap after the Ravellenic Games are over. There is talk of a mini-Advent swap too. Our swaps are great ways to get to know some other knitters a little better, to make a quick little project, and to receive a fun little something too. Come check out the group if this sounds like something you would enjoy.

knit equals joy

knitting, knitting patterns, purple, Spa Cloth

The Queen’s Spa Cloth!

Posted on July 25, 2016August 4, 2016 by Carol

I’m excited to introduce a new pattern, The Queen’s Spa Cloth. This is another spa cloth that’s knit side-to-side using lovely pima cotton to make a cloth that is soft enough to use on your face. I use the spa cloths from this collection every day.

I will admit that this stitch might not be the most practical for a spa cloth, but it is made by using triple yarnovers to make elongated stitches which are then knitted together, and it’s just fun to do! Admittedly, if lace and yarnovers aren’t your thing, it might not be your idea of fun. But I found it oddly satisfying to unwind the triple yarnovers to make the elongated stitches. Yes, I am a knitting nerd; there’s no denying it.

This pattern is available on Ravelry for $1.25, here.

If you use social media, use the tags #morespacloths and #thequeensspacloth to join in on the spa cloth mania!

A huge thank you to my wonderful test knitters and tech editor. Their help is invaluable as I endeavor to provide quality patterns to you. I am fortunate to be surrounded by such a talented and kind group of knitters.

The photos on this page and in the pattern are by Alex of alexand knits. Many thanks to Alex for allowing me to use her lovely photos.

Finally, I am working on a collection of six or seven spa cloth patterns, currently under the working title of Folk Tales Spa Cloth Collection. This is the fourth and two more are in testing and tech editing. My hope is to write them as an e-book, although they may be grouped as a Ravelry collection instead. I will keep you posted on the collection!

I hope you will check out the Queen’s Spa Cloth, and that you will enjoy this wild stitch as much as I did!

knit equals joy

knitting, Ravellenic Games, Ravelry, Team Knit Equals Joy

The Ravellenic Games: FAQ

Posted on July 23, 2016May 8, 2020 by Carol

The Ravellenic Games = awesomeness! But what do you do? How do you participate? This list of FAQs will help you navigate the waters and have a fabulous time.

Frequently Asked Questions – General

The Ravellenic Games?? In a nutshell, Ravelry members have organized a site-wide knit-a-long that takes place during the Olympics. This thread is home to the 2016 Ravellenic Games. Cast-on occurs during the Opening Ceremonies (or any time thereafter), and projects must be completed by the Closing Ceremonies. There are events (categories of projects) and laurels (types of techniques). When you complete and post your project as directed, you will receive virtual awards and laurels, which you can proudly display on your project page and/or your profile.
When is the event? Friday, August 5 starting at 19:15 in Rio’s time zone (BRT) through Sunday, August 21 at 23:59 (BRT). If I’m looking at the time zone converter correctly, that means I can cast on at 15:15 here in the Pacific Time Zone.
What are the rules? The rules are to pick a project that will challenge you, and to have fun!
Do I have to watch the Olympics to participate? No, not at all.
Do I have to be on a team? No, you can be a participant without a team.
Can I be on more than one team? Yes. The rule is that each project must be associated with no more than one team.
Why would I want to be on a team? A team is like a virtual knit night. We will exclaim over your projects, cheer you on if you falter, and dance a happy dance when you cross the finish line.
Why would I want to be on Team Knit Equals Joy? We are really good at the above! And we have prizes! Read more below.

FAQs – Team Knit Equals Joy

How do I join Team Knit Equals Joy? Our team thread is here. You can post and say you are joining, or just join the conversation at any time. Tagging your project with ravellenics2016 and teamknitequalsjoy2016 will automatically list you as one of our ravthletes.
Do I have to knit a Carol E. Herman pattern to be on Team Knit Equals Joy? No! You can knit any pattern you like. But knitting my patterns will give you extra chances for prizes! 😀
What about prizes? We already have a queue of physical prizes like yarn, project bags and the like for our team. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the Games via random number generator and will be chosen from our team’s finished projects. We have a thread here with more detail and where we will post our finished objects.
What if I have questions? Post them in the team thread, send me a private message on Ravelry, or ask below.

If you are reading this, you are invited to join Team Knits Equals Joy. I hope that you will consider it. We have so much fun, and an event like this really does provide a lot of inspiration, incentive and encouragement to learn a new technique, finish a languishing WIP (work in progress), or even to frog something you never are going to make and free up that yarn for something else.

Hope to see you there!

~knit equals joy

knitters, knitting, knitting patterns, pattern, Spa Cloth

Cinderella’s Spa Cloth Pattern is Live!

Posted on July 20, 2016August 4, 2016 by Carol

Cinderella’s Spa Cloth is now available on Ravelry!

This is the newest pattern in my Folk Tales Spa Cloth Collection. I am compiling an e-book of these patterns, and after having written several patterns of varying degrees of difficulty, I decided to write a pattern that would be simple yet elegant.

This pattern has just two rows, repeated until the cloth is the desired width. It uses only knit stitches and slipped stitches, yet it creates a cloth that is both lovely and useful. Made with Cascade Ultra Pima Fine, it’s a wonderful, gently exfoliating facial cloth. I use my spa cloths daily!

My friend Alex of alexand knits is one of the amazing testers who test-knit this cloth for me, and she wrote about it here. She is an excellent writer and knitter and blogs about all kinds of lovely knits.

The pattern is available on Ravelry for $1.25, here. I hope you will enjoy this pattern!

The Perfect Paint Color

Image• Posted on July 17, 2016 by Carol

Carol E. Herman Designs, knitting, Ravellenic Games, Ravelry

Team Knit equals Joy – The Ravellenic Games 2016

Posted on July 12, 2016May 8, 2020 by Carol

Team Knit equals Joy is joining the Ravellenic Games! The Ravellenic Games – a fun way to connect with other knitters and to challenge your own skills. They take place during the Olympic Games but, of course, are not affiliated with those games. The goal is to challenge yourself to begin and complete at least one project between Friday, August 5 and Sunday, August 21 – and to have fun doing it.

15 events cover just about any type of project you want to make:

Afghan Marathon, Bag Backstroke, Cowl Jump, Frogging Trampoline, Garment Polo, Hat Dash, Household Heptathalon, Mitten Medley, Scarf Hockey, Shawl Sailing, Sock-Put, Sweater Triathalon, Synchronized Spinning, Toy Toss, and WIPs Wrestling.

The Ravelry-wide event awards virtual prizes. Generally these are a graphic you can post on your Ravelry profile page and on your project page. Pretty fun to post those prizes proudly!

We will have prizes in our Knit equals Joy team, too…real prizes like yarn, bags, patterns… come check out the thread in my Ravelry group for more details!

We would love to have you join our team! It’s like a giant KAL, and so much fun. Hope to see you there!

knit equals joy

Photos by unsplash.com.

colorwork, knitting, photography, Weekly Photo Challenge

Weekly Photo Challenge: Partners

Posted on June 25, 2016June 25, 2016 by Carol

This week, share an image of partners. A pair, a trio, a sextet; people, buildings, plants — whatever you choose to shoot, give us subjects that are in tune with one another.

Daisy decided to hang out with us on a recent photo shoot for the Willamette Valley Tee. The pictures of these two together are some of my favorites from that afternoon. The special bond that they share is palpable and unmistakable, and it is one of those simple things in life that brings joy in seeing it.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Partners