Category: designs

Look, internet! I have a new pattern to show you!

ESPRESSO SHOT SCARF

This scarf grew out of having a skein of J. Knits Supersock Me in last year’s exclusive Rhinebeck colorway and wanting to show it off. I was having visions of stacked eyelets, and then I had a wonderful, terrible idea: knit lengthwise. So I cast on for a nice long scarf, and started experimenting with garter eyelet ribs and by the time the skein was all knit up I had this:

And lo, it was very, very good, a long skinny scarf that I could wear during the warmer autumn days without overheating or could double over when it cools off:

But then I started getting feedback from my friends, who asked if I could come up with a shorter version. And some of my gentlemen friends commented that they’d consider a version that wasn’t in such…girly colors, as they put it. So I went stash diving, came up with a skein of Dream in Color Smooshy in November Muse, and turned it into this:

If you’d like proof that it looks good on the guys, I can provide it!

And so the Espresso Shot Scarf was born. (The name has nothing to do with a knit night, a table that caught on a rough tile floor, and an upended cafe mocha falling all over me and a scarf-in-progress. Just for your information.)

This scarf is quick and easy to knit, so it’s perfect if your knitting mojo needs a boost. Since it doesn’t need a chart, it’s perfect for traveling or knitting while you catch up on television or watch a holiday movie. And since it’s a speedy project and has two sizes (and is easily customizable!) it makes a perfect holiday gift. The skinny scarf is great for the fashionistas and scarf-accessorizers on your list, and the short version works for ladies or gentlemen, depending on the yarn you select. 420 yards of fingering weight yarn will get you a scarf, so you can use one of the special hand-dyed skeins in your stash, or maybe splurge on something special as a present for yourself.

Skills needed are knit and purl stitches and basic increases and decreases. You also will need a US 4 (3.5mm) 60-inch circular needle.

The Espresso Shot Scarf pattern is available for sale on Ravelry for 2.99. (Just click through that link.) Go ahead and kick start your holiday knitting!

(PS: Helping me model here are my sister Emily and her fiance Bobby. They are very kind to let me talk them into helping and I will be making them whatever magnificent handknits their little hearts desire.)

So I haven’t been talking very much about what’s been on my needles lately, and there’s two reasons for that. The first is that my family is tech-savvy enough to surf here and therefore I can’t discuss what they are getting for Christmas. (Well, of course they can reasonably assume they’re getting a knitted gift: this is me we’re talking about.) But the second is this:

HOLLY & IVY SHAWL & WRAP

This is my newest pattern, and I’ve been working on for weeks. It started out as a wisp of an idea for a stole when I learned I had a wedding to attend right after Christmas, and I swatched and poked and flipped through my stitch dictionaries and said, “Hmmmm,” an awful lot. And then I found the perfect colorway of Malabrigo (Verdes, 203) and I looked at it and it looked at me and said, “the Holly and the Ivy. Duh.” So back to the dictionaries and the swatching, and this is what I ended up with:

It’s very cushy and soft and — well, it’s Malabrigo, you can just imagine what a delight it is to wrap up in. I know exactly what I’m going to wear it with to this wedding, and I will be very warm and cozy and perfectly seasonally-attired.

But I just wasn’t ready to be done yet, so I went and reworked all the numbers so the pattern would work as a scarf too:

This one I knit in some Sock Flock from Holiday Yarns, a beautiful Evergreen color that I picked up at Rhinebeck with just this scarf in mind. This is going to be the one item I wear everywhere all season — it’s festive, with the little holly berries, but it’s not obnoxious or gaudy (I try to avoid those things). It’s just a simple little carol in a nice crisp lace, and I love it.

Incidentally, my good friend Melissa kindly did photography for me again, and I cannot tell you how much I love that scarf picture. She got it just right, didn’t she? (She blogs at Sheetar.com, and you can see lots of her photography there if you’d like.) She and my friend Margarita also get my thanks for test-knitting. And then, for the first time ever, I had a tech editor, the excellent Sandi Wiseheart, who I met happily at Rhinebeck. I learned a great deal working with her, and my pattern is infinitely better for it.

Have I enticed you yet? There’s all sorts of things you could do with this — longer or shorter, or get creative with the holly berries — maybe beads instead of the French knots I used, or perhaps you’ll surprise me. Sandi even suggested a winter white version and I do believe I’m going to cast that on as soon as I finish the rest of this Christmas knitting.

You can find the pattern for the Holly & Ivy Scarf & Wrap on Ravelry, where it’s available for $5.00. Gift one, keep one for yourself…I won’t tell!

Autumn’s my favorite time of year, and as the summer ends my anticipation grows, breaking out my orange and maroon clothes to get into the mood and checking the sugar maple trees by my house multiple times a day to catch the first leaves turning.

So none of you will be surprised to learn that autumn’s started to infect my knitting. I am very pleased to present my first design, the October Leaves Fingerless Mitts.

Pattern: October Leaves Fingerless Mitts, available for sale on Ravelry
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss Fingeringweight in Pumpkin (which color they are naturally discontinuing), approx. 200 yards (1 skein)
Needles: US1/2.25mm

I love projects with leaf motifs, and over the summer the idea of a leafy thumb gusset leapt into my head and would not go away. I tried to ignore it, I tried to knit lace and socks instead, but in the end I had to sit down and start drawing charts. It took some trial and error (as well as some excellent advice on cable placement from my sister) before I replicated what I’d initially envisioned, but by George I think I’ve got it!

Huge thank-yous to Melissa and Kel for test-knitting, and Glenna for looking everything over. I’m still new to this designing game so I want to make sure I get it right. Melissa also let me take advantage of her spectacular photography skills (all the pictures in this entry are hers), which I’m very excited about — it’s hard to take pictures of your own hands. Try it sometime. Thanks to her I have shots far more spectacular than anything I could get on my own. (She had me model her finished socks in return. It’s surprisingly tricky to stand that still!)

You can find the pattern for the October Leaves Mitts for sale on Ravelry, where I will also eagerly be checking to see who else knits it and what yarns they pick. And if you’d like to see my Mitts in person, find me at Rhinebeck, where I will most certainly have them on in honor of the season!