Introducing: The Windsor Vest

Sure, it might seem a bit early for Christmas posts and planning for most people, but for any knitters planning Christmas knitting, it's a good time to at least start browsing for your knitting queue. Interweave Knits Holiday, available via the Interweave Store (here: print edition or here: digital edition ), has you covered whether you want to treat someone (including yourself) to a gorgeous shawl or socks, whip up a quick hat or set of mittens, or make something special for a child. I was particularly delighted with the set of designs based on Jan Brett's illustrations in her children's books (The Hat, in which Hedgie the hedgehog has a run-in with a sock that blew off the clothesline of winter woollies, has been a favourite with both my kids), and I'm tempted for the first time ever to knit up a Christmas stocking as a result.

Photo by Harper Point Photography for Interweave Knits. Used with Permission.

My contribution to the collection is the Windsor Vest. When I sat down to play with colours and motifs on the computer, I asked myself, what would Ernie, from Sesame Street, favourite Muppet of so many children, wear if he had a traditional Fair-Isle inspired vest and wanted to dress up a little? Certainly he'd still want to wear some of his favourite colours!

Photo by Harper Point Photography for Interweave Knits. Used with Permission.

I had some SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock in my stash in the Ginger colourway, and I knew right away that I wanted that to be the colour for the trim. I enjoyed looking through all the delightful saturated colourways available, and set up a palette that I feel works well for a slightly more formal yet still exuberant Muppet, or indeed for a cheerful child who feels that if she or he must dress up, let it at least be colourful and bright.

Photo by Harper Point Photography for Interweave Knits. Used with Permission.

The Windsor Vest is worked in the round from the bottom up, with steeks worked for v-neck and armhole openings. Stitches are then picked up around the armholes and neckline for trim.

Finished Size 23¼ (24¾, 26¼, 27¾, 29¼)” chest circumference. Vest shown measures 23¼”

The pattern can also be purchased individually via the Interweave Knits Store here: Windsor Vest Pattern

Photo by Harper Point Photography for Interweave Knits. Used with Permission.

Smoky Lake

My Grandpa grew up near Smoky Lake here in Alberta, and I love when he tells the story of the time he and his brother came home with what they thought was a big fluffy dog that was only too happy to follow them. My Great-Grandmother was less than enthusiastic about any intent to keep the creature, and my Great-Grandfather brought the bear cub back to where the boys had found it.

The last time I was in Smoky Lake (the town, not the lake), it was rather an icy day in February, and I could have used a warm, sturdy, cozy cardigan to wrap myself up in. Smoky Lake, my design for Twist Collective Fall 2016, is a cabled and double-breasted cardigan with a shawl collar that totally fits the bill for warm, sturdy and cozy.

©Twist Collective. Used with permission

This cardigan is worked in Briggs & Little Atlantic, which is a bulky 3-ply wool that shows off cables nicely, even in a relatively darker shade like Grape, which Smoky Lake features. Of course, Briggs & Little Atlantic also comes in an excellent range of colours, both in heathered (like Grape) and solid. I think if I was knitting Smoky Lake again, I'd be tempted to also try Grey Heather, Fern, or Rust.

©Twist Collective. Used with permission

For warmth, I can tell you I tried this one on one warm summer day, and would have melted if I had kept it on any longer than it took to snap a few photos. I feel Smoky Lake would be perfect for a fall (and spring for that matter) coat. If I had been able to wear it while camping with my family this summer, it would have also been just the thing for chilly mornings in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

©Twist Collective. Used with permission

The wool is not only warm, but hard-wearing, and will keep your knitting in good form for a very long time. Briggs & Little Atlantic relaxes slightly with a wash, and plumps up a wee bit too; it keeps its shape and definition while making the drape and handle come out just right.

When designing Smoky Lake, I wanted to use cables that would be sculptural enough to stand out even on a darker wool, but that would work well with a bulky wool without distorting the overall fabric. I settled on two cables that would play nicely with each other in columns. I wanted a Pea Coat feel to the sweater, a sense of being wrapped in wool against all weather and ready for outdoor exploration over lake, sea, woodland or field. A double-breasted coat with a voluminous shawl collar had the right sort of feel too it, and so I sketched this up:

Of course, with bulky wool and a good sized button-band in the front meant that there would be less density of cables than in my sketch (I also don't think I got the eyes quite right, but that has very little to do with the sweater, right?); but the sketch conveyed the feel I was looking for, and once calculations and adjustments to assure a good fit for all the sizes in question for men and women were worked over and approved, I set about crunching numbers and making sure that the sweater worked up into a cozy and beautiful garment. I really enjoyed working up the shawl collar; no matter how often I use short-rows, they feel like magic, and the bands worked up particularly quickly in the bulky yarn.

©Twist Collective. Used with permission

I am so pleased to see my idea fully transformed into reality, even better than I had imagined it. I really enjoyed working with Twist Collective on this project; much thanks to all of the Twist staff! Twist Collective, as always, has beautiful photography, and I recommend even to the non-knitters who read this blog to go take a look through this issue (and back issues as well)!

Thanks and love to my Grandpa, who, by the way, always looks great in a double-breasted jacket.

The Smoky Lake pattern is now available for purchase here through Twist Collective.

©Twist Collective. Used with permission

Zephirine Tunic Re-release!

The Zephirine Tunic that I had designed for Knit Now Magazine issue #50 is now available for purchase in my Ravelry store! 

About a year ago, I was putting the finishing touches on the sample and pattern. Now, the tulips are starting to bloom in my garden again, and it's time to think about Spring and Summer knitting (and Fall and Winter knitting, but I'm not sure we ever stop thinking about those). Zephirine is knit with Yarn Stories Fine Merino 4ply, which is an excellent yarn with great stitch definition and a lovely drape.

You don't have to be a Ravelry member to shop on Ravelry... just head to my patterns page and click the "buy now" button.

Happy knitting!

About a Year, and About a Week

It's been a long week, but it ended with a lovely package in the mail:

It's sample return time! It was delightful to open the package from Knit Now and find three samples that I had knit up to present my patterns that Knit Now have published in the past year. The Woodland Cardigan represents an important beginning for me, as it was my first third-party publication. It also marks a year since I have started working full-time (or, as full-time as I can during the kids' school hours and the occasional round of household errands and tasks) at knitwear design.

This week has featured an interruption to work; that of having a sick kid at home all week. She's well on the mend now though, and for that I am very thankful. I am also glad that I have been able to easily take that time with her due to my work being fairly flexible, and that if it was going to happen (and this kid is rarely ill), it happened during a slow week. Sure, there was a lot that I would have been working on, but none of it needed to be done this week exactly.

While spending time with my daughter, I did also make a bit of progress on a few non-work projects, such as on her socks that I've been meaning to make for awhile:

and, on a hat for a friend's baby (just need to weave-in those ends!), the pattern being garter and hearts by Amanda Keeys and it is knit in Et après by Plassard, colour 89. If it looks a bit big, it's meant for the 6 month and up size, as it's rather lovely out, so the baby shouldn't need it for awhile yet.

Also, I'm still spinning the blue silk. I'm getting rather close to the end of the singles, but it's still going. 25g has been taking longer than I thought, but it is a rather fine single (maybe not consistently fine, but I'm still happy), so it may be a few more days yet before I can start getting this organized for plying. No idea what I will make with this just yet, but it's certainly no rush to decide. I'm enjoying the spinning process and the feel and shine of that silk!

Mount Robson Sneak Peek

I am extremely pleased to announce that I have a men's pullover design in Interweave Knits Summer 2015!

Photo courtesy of Harper Point Photography for Interweave Knits Summer 2015, used with permission

Interweave is the first knitting magazine that I ever bought, back when I first started knitting, so I am extremely delighted to have my Mount Robson Pullover be a part of it. If you follow the above link, you can check out the issue preview and see lots of great knits. I particularly love the Chesapeake Jacket, where a sea critter and knitwear unite in the best way possible!

Mount Robson Peak

Emperor Falls

I named my men's pullover after Mount Robson, which I hiked back in 1998 with my Karate club. We worked our way up to Berg Lake and back down the same day, with a stop at Emperor Falls for lunch. I had the dubious distinction of being longest on the trail (tip: Break in your hiking boots before your trip!), but had a great time no matter how sore my feet got.

Berg Glacier above Berg Lake

The sweater itself is great for hiking. Lightweight yet warm, it proves that wool is for Summer too! As you're climbing, the weather can shift fairly dramatically as you reach higher altitudes, so a wool sweater like this one is just the thing to carry in your backpack; extra warmth without extra weight to carry.









The slip-stitch rib pattern gives considerable stretch to the garment for ease of layering, and it features contrasting texture with the stockinette saddles. For more photos, the Ravelry preview is also up.

You can buy your copy of the magazine here: Interweave Store

Kinney Lake

Sneaky Peek

I've had a busy couple of weeks, mostly involving grading math and technical writing, and though that's for a project I can't share with you just yet, I do have a wee something that I can share.

Last May, I got to spend some time working with J C Rennie Supersoft Lambswool 4 ply for my Woodland Cardigan design for Knit Now Magazine. I've had a few ideas here and there for working with it again, and have had one of them stick well enough that I've started a swatch:

I'm pleased so far, but will have to knit a few more rows and give it a bath before deciding if I'm on the right track for my project!

I've just heard (quite literally as I am typing this entry) that tomorrow's long weekend guests are coming tonight, so I'm just going to dash off now and put away all that yarn and fabric that is sitting around on the spare bed. Hope you all have a lovely Easter!

Quick Shave

Sweater shavers are not just for sweaters.

My Irish Cowboy neckwarmer was worn constantly this winter. It's cozy, warm, fits in my pocket when I'm inside, and so very handy. The Merino and Cashmere blend is extremely soft, but it does rather pill.

Thankfully, a couple of years ago, I picked up a sweater shaver, so I brought it out today and:

Good as new.

Sure, the surface will get a few more pills again in future, but I tend to find that they're never as bad as the first batch. I do recommend giving some of your knits a go-over, particularly if they've gotten pilly enough for you to avoid wearing them!

Lily Mittens-Knit Now #45

Knit Now Magazine hosts a regular Designer Challenge feature, in which designers are asked to come up with designs for a particular yarn on a tight timeline, to see what they can dream up.

My answer was to create this stranded-knit pair of mittens for Knit Now, and the pattern is out today in issue #45, (which is, by the way, bigger and better than ever) available online at this link.

Photo by Dan Walmsley for Practical Publishing, used with permission

I had a great time playing around with the motifs and re-arranging them to make the chart for this pattern, and enjoyed knitting them up with Truly Wool Rich 4-Ply by Cygnet.

Photo by Dan Walmsley for Practical Publishing, used with permission

Since I can't resist checking out both sides of a stranded-knit project, here's an inside-out shot too:

Winter's far from over yet, so why not knit up a quick and bright treat for yourself? Nothing like playing with colour to make up for dreary grey days while waiting for Spring to finally arrive!

Interview with Lindsey Stephens

 Today I am bringing you an interview with Lindsey Stephens as a feature of the Independent Designer Gift-along 2014. Lindsey Stephens brings her love for teaching and mathematics into everything she does. She has her own design line, Poetry in Yarn, and has published patterns in Crochet World magazine, Koigu magazine, the book Curvy Girl Crochet, and other publications. Lindsey also uses her mad math and technical skills for good as a crochet tech editor and website designer. After five years as a stay-at-home mom, she now teaches math at a Yeshiva elementary and middle school in Connecticut. Learn more about Lindsey at PoetryInYarn.com or on Ravelry, where she goes by Leebah.

How and when did you first learn to knit and crochet?

I taught myself to crochet back in 2007 when I was moving from Texas to Connecticut. I knew I'd need something to do on the 3 day car trip. Knitting followed a few years later.

Are there any other crafts that you enjoy working on?

Right now I'm really enjoying embroidery. In the past I've done jewelry making, sewing, and scrapbooking.

What is your favourite yarn to work with at the moment? Do you have a favourite fibre and yarn weight? What would be your dream fibre to design something for if you have the chance?

Just one?! Right now I'm really loving the yarns from Mrs. Crosby Plays. I just finished one crochet design in their yarn, and I'm working up a knit design too.
In general, I'm a big fan of alpaca yarns - they're so soft. I tend to do one lace weight project a year- that's typically enough to get the lace bug out of my system and then I use heavier yarns. This year it was the Fairy Ring Road Shawl.

Fairy Ring Road Shawl © Vivian Aubrey Photography

I find I watch a lot of shows or listen to a lot of podcasts while stitching; how about you? Which do you enjoy and/or recommend?

I love crime dramas. Law & Order, Criminal Minds, NCIS, Bones, and Castle are all regulars on my "watch tv while I stitch" list.

Do you have any upcoming designs that you are able to share details with us at this time?

Spry Twist Mitts and Earwarmer, © Vivian Aubrey Photography

The Spry Twist Mitts and Earwarmer set are my latest crochet design. They're super cute and a quick project. I love the twisted stitch / cabled detailing on them.

Tunisian Crochet has been hitting the spotlight lately, and this is well-deserved. Your Roxanne scarf is a lovely example of the technique! Tell us a bit about Tunisian, what you like about it, and if you'll be designing some more patterns for it in future.

I think Tunisian is best summed up as the look of knitting with the speed of crochet. It's a fun technique to play around with. I love that I'm seeing more and more people doing work with Tunisian crochet. I'll definitely be back at it again soon.

Thanks so much Lindsey, and, to everyone out there, hope you are all enjoying the Gift-along!

Floral Heart Mittens

I've been looking forward to sharing these mittens with you for a long time! 

©Dan Walmsley for Practical Publishing, used with permission

Most of you will know that I love stranded colourwork, and of course, Norwegian-style mittens are some of my most favourite things of all. So, when Knit Now put out a call for a Scandinavian-themed issue, I got swatching and sent in a proposal to make these Floral Heart Mittens. The issue is full of lovely colourwork, and has a great primer by Karie Westermann (who blogs over here) on the different varieties of Scandinavian knitwear (also, she designed lovely things for the issue too, as did many other designers, so why not check out the Ravelry preview to see all the lovely things?).

©Dan Walmsley for Practical Publishing, used with permission

I was so very pleased to be able to work with Jamieson & Smith Shetland Heritage yarn for these mittens. It has such a lovely and satisfying squoosh to it, feels lively to work with, and knits up with a soft hand while still feeling durably woolly.

Issue #42 of Knit Now is on sale today at http://www.moremags.com/knitting/knit-now

Also, I've been interviewed in conjunction with the Independent Designers Gift-Along 2014, so please enjoy at this lovely blog here: thelittletreasures interview. I'm just tickled pink to be able to share so much great news today!

Now to get started on Christmas knitting (yes, that's right, started; sometime next week I'll let you know just how far behind I am).

Interview With Ruth Brasch

Karen: A Puff Stitch Infinity Scarf

 In conjunction with the Independent Designer Gift-along 2014, today I am featuring an interview with Ruth Brasch, an Independent Designer who blogs at Brasch Elegance. Ruth has a number of gorgeous designs in Knitting and Crochet that you can check out on her Ravelry Designer page (and you can even check them out even if you are for some reason not yet on Ravelry): Ruth's Designer Page. If you're on Ravelry, why not join her Ravelry group? She has plans for testing new patterns in the near future, and you'll be among the first to hear about them: Brasch Elegance Designs

How and when did you first learn to knit and crochet?

My mother taught me to knit when I was about 6-7. Nothing fancy, just the basics - I think I only knit garter stitch for years! One day I found a crochet hook in her drawer and asked her what it was. She said she didn’t know how to crochet, but my grandma could teach me. Well, my grandma lives in North Carolina, so she taught be to chain stitch when I was about 12, but then we left to go home! The rest I learned by getting out books from the library - you know, the ones with the diagrams and the black and white photos? That’s most of how I learned!

Ode to Summer

How did you decide to start designing?

My first “design,” if you could really call it that, was just a pair of fingerless gloves that I made up a recipe for, because I didn’t have anything like Ravelry to look up a pattern, and couldn’t find a pattern I liked. I made a couple things like that for a few years, but in the past year I realized that I’m working off other people’s patterns most of the time, and tweaking them to make them how I want them to be - why not just make my own patterns instead? I saw a few textures and stitches online that I really liked, and couldn’t find a pattern for them, so I started making them up myself!

Are there any other crafts that you enjoy working on? I see you've taken up spinning (I've been enjoying drop spindling since May myself), how are you liking it, and what sort of projects do you have on the go?

Well, I did just recently start drop spindling, but it’s sort of slow going for me at the moment because of the Christmas season, and the fact that I just discovered designing! I’m currently working on a baby alpaca 2 ply, which may get finished by next Christmas (haha), but my ambition is to buy a spinning wheel so my limited spinning time will be more productive!

What is your favourite yarn to work with at the moment? Do you have a favourite fibre and yarn weight? What would be your dream fibre to design something for (or spin for that matter) if you have the chance?

At the moment, I really enjoy Paton’s Colorwul, and have been making a lot of projects in bulky/super bulky weight purely because of time constraints. Ideally, I would like to work with a worsted/aran weight alpaca (can you tell I have a new obsession?!), but I don’t get the chance to work with higher quality fibers very often, as I’m on a budget. I have plans to design a “soft and squishy” collection, if you will, out of nicer/higher end yarns - purely because I want to, and don’t get the chance to often.

A Whale of a Cowl

I find I watch a lot of shows or listen to a lot of podcasts while stitching; how about you? Which do you enjoy and/or recommend?

I’m currently watching shows like The Mentalist, Doctor Who, The 100, and White Collar. I like shows with a lot of dialogue, so I don’t have to look at the screen very often - my husband and I often joke that crafters listen to shows rather than watching them.

Do you have any upcoming designs that you are able to share details with us at this time?

I’m planning a collection of textured cowls - I wanted to have them published before the Gift A Long, but just didn’t get to it in time. My Black Walnut Infinity Scarf is actually planned to be included in the collection, so more along those lines.

You've a number of lovely cowls (I'll share a link to them here) for both knit and crochet, and cowls have certainly been trending well lately! Tell us about what you think makes for a great cowl, and if you have plans for more coming up.

Black Walnut Infinity Scarf

I see you’ve noticed my current design obsession! For cowls or infinity scarves, I like versatility, and an interesting stitch pattern. I like scarves that look harder to make than they actually are - usually they start because I see an interesting texture or stitch somewhere and can’t get it out of my head. Like I said, I plan to make a whole collection of them in a similar fashion to the Black Walnut Scarf.

Thanks so much Ruth, and, to everyone out there, hope you are all enjoying the Gift-along!

Woodland Cardigan

Way back in March, which seems like ages ago now, Kate Heppell, Knit Now Editor, put out a call for submissions for the Fall issues with, as usual, extremely gorgeous mood boards.

I liked a lot of things in the mood boards, particularly the Down to the Woods board here. (I'm also on Pinterest, over here). Now, there are no hedgehogs or rabbits in my neighbourhood here in the Alberta prairies (though a porcupine and many jackrabbits/hares have been spotted), but I've spent so much time in my childhood reading novels set in England that I feel a displaced nostalgia. I loved this board, especially the hedgehog in a woolly blanket, and the animal garlands, that to me suggested rows of stranded knitting.

I had about three ideas going that gradually got narrowed down to a baby pullover. Of course, then I re-read the header on the board, which asked for Adult garments and accessories. After a brief moment of disappointment that I'd got it wrong, I wondered whether the hedghog, bunny and acorn motif I'd been working on in my head was way too cute for an adult sweater. Deciding there's no such thing as too cute in this case, I came up with the following sketch and swatch, and sent in my proposal.

The hedgehog and acorns were easy to get just so, but it took a few tries to get a bunny motif that looked just bunnyish enough without making it much bigger than the hedgehog.

Kate e-mailed to say it was great and that she'd like to commission it, but there's another woodland pullover sent in that she loves just as much, so could I make it a cardigan instead so that both patterns would be different enough to be in the same issue? (Check out the lovely Parliament of Owls pullover here on Ravelry!) I said sure thing, and starting plotting to make it work.

There were a few changes that need to be made, I found, as I started a new, flat swatch (we had worked out that it was best to have this one worked flat rather than round and steeked, as the pullover has steeks in that pattern), that a few changes needed to be made, such as changing single stripe rows to two rows. 

I also realized that while I could knit stranded knitting with both hands on the knit side, I'd never worked purls with my right hand. I set about learning how (after all, millions manage it every day), but eventually realized that my tension being very different while purling with my right, I'd have to resort to knitting with both hands, and purling all stitches with my left, being careful how I dropped and picked up the yarn again to ensure correct yarn dominance while stranding yarn in front of the wrong side.

I think I managed quite well in the end, though I will say it was a challenge to get the sample knit up in three weeks, some of that time having been spent re-calculating for the new gauge with the actual yarn, J.C. Rennie Supersoft Lambswool 4 ply. It's a really light fingering weight, and I ended up going down a needle and therefore re-calculating all 7 sizes. The results made this extremely worthwhile, and by the way, the yarn washes up just lovely.

Thanks to a friend of the family, I have a few modeled shots from a few minutes before I took the completed sample to the post office!

I would like to thank Kate and her staff for all their hard work on Issue 39, which looks great! You can buy it here at Knit Now.

Huge thanks to the amazing Sigrun, who did a pre-tech-edit tech-edit for me, helping me double-check everything before sending things off, and to Steph who encouraged me and advised as I sorted out a few problems in the early stages (also for lending me a long 2.75 mm circ)! 

Big thanks to my whole family for their encouragement, and particularly to my husband and kids for their love, patience, support, and willingness to let me ignore them completely for large stretches of time while working on the Woodland Cardigan!

Irish Cowboy

Presenting my latest pattern, Irish Cowboy:

I had some leftover cashmere. This, of course, was no hardship. The perfect thing to knit in order to best appreciate the luck of having leftover cashmere, it seemed, was some sort of cozy neck-warmer, ideally with gorgeous cables. 

Even better, it should finish up in a shape that effectively keeps the neck warm while wearing a v-necked jacket. This was done by working a flat piece with a cable trim extension on one side, then seaming the cast-end to the side near the cast-on end.

The resulting bandana-like piece reminded me of the lads from my Gaelic Football team that have moved to Alberta from Ireland. It made me think of the enjoyment the lads take in trying out local customs, particularly when they prepare to go “Stampeding” at the legendary Calgary Stampede Rodeo nearby and don a new uniform of Western-yoked snap shirts. If they want to wear their duds into the fall though, they'll definitely want to also wear the Irish Cowboy to keep warm!

Pattern has both written and charted directions, and is knit with 2 balls of Knit Picks Capra. 

Now on sale: