sweater knitting

Little Ethereal Sweater Pattern Release and a Discount

Posted on September 12, 2020 by Carol

Hello dear friends,

I’m thrilled to announce the release of the Little Ethereal Sweater Pattern. This children’s sweater is written for newborn through size 8-10 years. This cute little sweater is so much fun to knit! And of course, choosing your yarn and colors is half the fun.

I used Amanda Hope Yarn Aussie Extra Fine in the colorways Lisa’s Purple and Princess. The colors worked together perfectly, and the yarn is a delight to work with. I love the finished sweater!

My friend Marcela Chang from Chile translated the pattern into Spanish. The purchase of the pattern includes two PDFs, one in English and one in Spanish.

I’m offering the pattern at a steep discount this weekend here on the website (click on “Patterns” above) and on Payhip. Use the coupon code INTRO40 for 40% off– coupon expires 9/14/2020. However, if you miss that discount, the pattern is still on sale with a 25% discount here and on Payhip with the coupon code HELLO25 through 9/30/2020.

The Pumpkin-a-Long (PAL) is starting shortly, and I will post again soon about it. As usual, there will be prizes (!) and a new pattern for this year. Stay tuned!!!

I hope that you will stay well, and if you are here in the West, that you are staying safe from the wildfires. Our kids were evacuated from their honeymoon because of the wildfires…they will have stories to tell, but they are safe and sound, and I am very grateful.

All the best,

Carol

Knit Equals Joy Designs, knitters, knitting, knitting pattern, pattern, sweater knitting, sweater pattern

Ethereal Sweater Pattern is Here!

Posted on March 28, 2020July 15, 2020 by Carol

Hi everyone!

The Ethereal Sweater pattern is live!

Ethereal Sweater is light as air, soft as breath, and a joy to knit and wear. The design features a rolled neckline, stranded stripes and a slipped stitch pattern in the two-color yoke, a split hem, and textured two-color cuffs. It is knit top-down and seamless in fingering weight yarn, and can be tried on as you go along.

The pattern is written for 9 sizes ranging from 28-62 inches (71-157 cm), with several inches of positive ease added so that the finished sweater measures 31.5-68.5 inches (80-174 cm).

Skills Needed: Working with two colors, stretchy/flexible cast on, backward loop cast on, working in the round, slipping stitches, m1 and kfb increases, ssk and k2tog decreases, knitting through the back loop.

Get the pattern here:

Ethereal Sweater PDF Pattern on Etsy

Ethereal Sweater PDF Pattern on Payhip

Yardage requirements, from the pattern:
Main Color (MC): 3 (3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7) skeins Yama Fibre Arts Merino Linen Singles (Fingering; 90% South African Merino, 10% Linen, Superwash; 394 yds/100 g) in Gray Sage. If substituting yarn, 920 (1105, 1300, 1500, 1705, 1995, 2205, 2360, 2595) yds [840 (1010, 1190, 1370, 1560, 1825, 2015, 2160, 2375) m] fingering weight yarn.

Contrasting Color (CC): 1 (1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2) skeins Yama Fibre Arts Merino Linen Singles (Fingering; 90% South African Merino, 10% Linen, Superwash; 394 yds/100 g) in Nomad. If substituting yarn, 245 (280, 350, 390, 420, 495, 560, 595, 610) yds [225 (260, 320, 360, 385, 450, 515, 545, 560) m] fingering weight yarn.

Like all of my patterns, Ethereal has been test knit and tech edited.

My second Ethereal in progress, knit in Dragonfly Fibers Pixie in Captain Nemo and Van Gogh’s Sunflowers

I love that this sweater lends itself to each knitter’s own creativity with yarn and color! Some knitters have used stash yarn in more than one color for the contrasting color. Some have modified the pattern by making short sleeves. Each time I see a new Ethereal, I think: “This is my favorite!” (shh…just don’t tell the others.)

Here are some lovely sweaters by some lovely knitters. At the bottom of the page are some swatches I’ve made of the pattern stitch so that you can see how it looks in different yarns.

by Dee, photo by Lindsay Newton Photography

We are having a knit-a-long, but this post is getting pretty wordy, so more about that in a future post. However, if you want to find out about it sooner, search for and follow #etherealkal on Instagram. Pictures of the beautiful yarny prizes to come, as well.

Thank you…stay safe and well.

xoxo

Car

sweater knitting, sweater pattern, test knitters, test knitting, yarnpond

Join me on Yarnpond!

Posted on January 12, 2020 by Carol

Hi everyone! Happy 2020!!

The Ethereal Sweater is finally ready for test-knitting. Ethereal is knit top-down, it’s seamless, and it has fun and lovely details like a vertically striped collar, a slipped stitch yoke in two colors, and a split hem. The cuffs and the hem share one of my favorite textured stitches, the rice stitch – in a single color on the hem and two colors on the cuffs. It is written for sizes 28-62 in. (bust).

This pattern is one in which choosing your colors is half the fun. It works equally well in a monochromatic scheme as it does in a complementary scheme. Speckles are great fun in either the main color of the contrasting color – or both.

Here’s a sneak peak of Ethereal:

Join me over in Yarnpond if you are interested in test knitting Ethereal. Yarnpond is a website that was created specifically to provide an online platform for test knits. Not only will I list my testing calls there, but members will have access to lots of designers looking for testers. It’s the perfect match! <3

The test for Ethereal is here: Ethereal test. You have to be registered as a member to access the test, but it’s easy and free to register. You can sign up to be notified when I have tests by going here: Knit Equals Joy on Yarnpond. I hope you will sign up if you’re interested in test knitting in the future…the 2020 pumpkin will make its debut there first!

Have a wonderful week!

xoxo

Carol

cable knitting, Knit Equals Joy Designs, knitting, knitting pattern, sweater knitting, sweater pattern

Bold Sweater Now Available

Posted on July 22, 2019 by Carol

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.

You can find Bold here: Bold Sweater at LoveCrafts.

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!

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

colorwork, colorwork knitting, inspiration, Knit Equals Joy Designs, knitting pattern, sweater pattern, The Creative Process, The Design Process

Finally. The Willamette Valley Tee.

Posted on September 16, 2018September 15, 2018 by Carol

It’s quite interesting to me, designing knitting patterns. Not only in the ways you might expect: the conception of an idea, the swatching and trying out the different possibilities, even working out the most logical way to lay out the instructions. But also in this unexpected way: my sense of responsibility to my audience – the knitters who will be following my instructions and expecting beautiful results.

This sense of responsibility can and does cause anxiety. It is the reason that it’s taken more than 3 years to go from conception to publication for the Willamette Valley Tee.

The very first post about this sweater was published on August 9, 2015 (What I Learned from the Swatch).

Then followed Colorwork Tee Progress (Aug 23, 2015), Yes, I am still working on the Colorwork Tee! (Oct 23, 2015), …and we have color! (Jan 20, 2016), Colorwork Tee Update (Feb 4, 2016), Winter Ramblings (Feb 19, 2016), and Sweater Surgery, or How I Cut Into my Sweater and Lived to Tell About It (May 5, 2016).

Finally, I threw in the towel with The Creative Project from H-E-Double Toothpicks (Sept 26, 2016). Well, maybe I didn’t throw in the towel, but I put the sweater away for a bit (a year plus!), hoping that the ideas might ruminate for a while and finally coalesce into a pleasing organic whole.

You just don’t know which events will give you the confidence to give something a try. Last year, our local yarn shop, Tangled Purls, hosted a series of customer trunk shows. It was a lovely way to create community and to allow us to appreciate the talent of our fellow local knitters. Toward the end of the series, they graciously invited me to participate. I included the old version of the Colorwork Tee in the tubs with my other knits, not really thinking it would be displayed since I didn’t use a yarn that the shop carries. However, they did display it, and people responded very positively (thanks, guys!), causing me to reconsider and to think that it might be time to give it the old college try once again.

During this year’s February week of vacation, I reconstructed the neck, shoulders, and sleeves, changed the palette slightly, and loved the result. Finally, I had the sweater I had dreamed of. In the writing of it, though, I was not able to make it work in many sizes, as I had the Color Bliss Sweater. So, this pattern is currently available for Ladies Small (32-34 in.) and Medium (36-38 in.) at bust. If there is interest, I will continue to work to come up with a different construction that will work for more sizes.

Here are the pattern deets:

This wearable piece of art is a delight to make and wear. Using ten colors to create a beautiful interplay of pattern and light, this sweater would also look lovely in just two or three colors. Or experiment with stashbusting to create your own unique work of art.

This sweater is designed to be worn with 1 1/2 to 5 3/4 inches positive ease at the bust. It is knit top-down, with no seaming necessary.

Yarn:
The sweater shown was knit using Sunday Knits Yarn in 3-ply (light sport weight) (50 grams/approx. 246 yards), (20 grams/approx. 98 yards), in three interchangeable bases, Angelic, Eden, and Nirvana in the following colorways:
A. Bronze (Eden) 2 50g skeins.
B. Teal (Angelic) 2 50g skeins.
C. Lagoon (Eden) 1 50g skein.
D. Aqua (Angelic) 2 50g skeins.
E. Rain (Nirvana) 1 20g skein.
F. Ocean (Nirvana) 2 50g skeins.
G. Espresso (Nirvana) 1 20g skein.
H. Pickle (Nirvana) 1 50g skein.
I. Celery (Eden) 1 50 g skein.
J. Khaki (Angelic) 1 20g skein.

Needles:
Body: US size 4 (3.5 mm) 24 in. (60 cm) and 36 in. (90 cm) circular needles, or size needed to obtain gauge.
Sleeve: US size 4 (3.5 mm) DPNs (set of 5) or appropriate needles for small-circumference knitting.
Neckband: US size 3 (3.25 mm) 24 in. (60 cm) circular needles.
Optional, for single-color sections: US size 3 (3.25 mm) 36 in. (90 cm) circular needles, or size needed to obtain gauge.

Discount:

Introductory Special: Use the coupon code WVT25 for 25% off through September 30, 2018 (Pacific Time).

NOW, finally, I am so thrilled to be able to offer this pattern to you. It truly was a labor of love, and I am grateful and pleased that it has, at last, become the design it was meant to be.

Knit Equals Joy

xoxox

Tag: sweater knitting

Little Ethereal Sweater Pattern Release and a Discount

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