Today I submitted my last pattern to Juniper Moon Farm Yarns for a Spring Collection of shawls, eight in all. Pretty much the bulk of my knitting for the last eighteen months has been patterns and samples for Juniper Moon. The first 16 pattern are now all available from Ravelry and your LYS – if they carry Juniper Moon Yarns. I am not sure when the Spring patterns are released but I will certainly write about them at that time!
It has been a very productive time for me personally as well. I have so many patterns half written and with samples knit that I am not sure quite where I am going to start….
Though usually I start with the most recently knit and work my way backwards…. LOL!
So Recent Knits include the class samples: They will be out first, before anything else! Needs must after all!
We are in the middle of our Winter Classes at work so I did a couple of new pieces. A couple of hats. A new fair-isle hat for a fair-isle class and a redo of an older hat pattern – Burka Leaf, now called Galadriel’s Gift. Galadriel’s Gift is one of my favourite patterns, a beautiful beaded lace cap. And a new shawl, a small Shetland style Hap with the beautiful striped border and simple lace edging.
So these things are completed! And patterns will be available in a couple of weeks.
A busy start to the new year! I hope that you are completing some old projects and contemplating some new ones!
Last week we had one of the most colourful sunrises ever! My husband dragged me out and we raced down to Departure Bay Beach to capture the colours and light before the show ended! I hope that it is a promise of things to come!
2023 is already shaping up to be an interesting year.
I have signed up for the Sweet Paprika / SmallBird WorkshopYarn Box Club. This is a continuation of my own exploration into breed specific yarns as each box contains yarn, natural and dyed, from a specific sheep breed. Information about the yarn, breed, source, best uses etc. plus there will be zoom meetings about each box. I decided to join just as they ran out of the first run of boxes – of course! But this week they added some more subscriptions so I am in – I am very stoked about this.
Every two months there will be a new box with the first one arriving mid-February! Six new yarns, and new ideas always come with new yarns. Today is the last day to sign up for the full shot!
As well, Tom and I are going on a very small cruise – as in small boat, local waters exploration! The trip is around the end of May and we going to see and do things that we have never tried before.
MotherShip Adventures specialize in Kayak Cruises (I am not a kayaker – a little too up close and personal), but they also do a couple of smaller cruises for history / photography buffs. We are going on one of these. The history and geography of Discovery Islands, Bute Inlet and Desolation Sound will be the focus of our tour. Hiking, zodiak trips and small island adventures await us. Hopefully lots of whale viewing and other wild life encounters! This will be a unique opportunity for us to discover more about our environment and enjoy a very up close and personal journey into the maritime history of B.C.
The boat is the Columbia III and was originally a hospital ship that serviced the small communities that dotted the rugged coast of B.C. It was totally renovated and restored to become the tour boat that it is today!
Of course there is always knitting and designing. That will never stop. More patterns, more yarns, ie – the yarn boxes offer intriguing opportunities. I am developing some designs for Gathering Yarns. This is an exciting new opportunity for me, new yarns, working with a Canadian Co. I am the first designer that they have worked with and I hope that we both have a great experience.
Below are th new patterns that I will be releasing over the next few weeks! Multiple hats, a new Salish Sea Sweater Pattern – this one the Great Bear! and a new shawl, complete with a lovely wide beaded edging!
We will also be starting classes up again at Mad About Ewe! I do love teaching people to see the amazing possibilities that can be created by yarn and needles. So, as always, knitting will be the focus and creative outlet of the year ahead!
I hope that your Year ahead is happy and healthy and full of the things that make you happy!
I have been knitting a lot of full mittens lately (as opposed to the fingerless variety). They seem to be my gift of choice is this year. They are fun and quick and are great vehicles for learning new techniques – they are sort of like hats that way.
Adding the thumb is the only really fiddley bit. The most popular thumb is the fully shaped gusset with thumb. They are the classic thumb for mittens, but my favourite thumb is the afterthought thumb.
Why the afterthought thumb? Well, it is especially great with patterned mittens, colourwork, texture or cable techniques. Why is it better? I am so happy you asked! LOL! The best and strongest reason is that an afterthought thumb (or afterthought heel) will not interrupt your patterning. Or does not require a special pattern separate from the rest of the mitten – though it can be a great vehicle for more patterning. Afterthought thumbs are usually added after the mitten body is finished and then worked in the main colour yarn in stockinette – making them an easy finish.
How about a step-by-step tutorial?
Technique 1
I love this one for almost everything! But especially textural patterns in any weight. See Boldly Tweed Set.
first work in pattern to the thumb insertion point; drop the working yarn and pick-up a length of waste yarn and work the desired number of stitches for the thumb as per the pattern size
slip the waste yarn sts from the RH needle back to the LH needle; now resume working the pattern – knitting over the waste yarn insertion – with the mitten yarn and ignore the waste yarn until the mitten body is complete.
Using a smaller needle size pick-up 1/2 of the stitch above and below the waste yarn insertion.Carefully clip the waste yarn stitches and remove the waste yarnStitches are sitting free on the needles – they can look a little messy until knitted.Knit the first round as follows (dividing the sts onto the dpn’s; working with the correct size dpn’s and starting at either corner pick-up and-knit 1 stitch, knit across the needle to the next divide, pick-up and knit 2 sts across the divide, knit the sts across the next needle, pick-up and knit 1 st – end of round – round count is double the sts of the waste yarn plus 4 – in the sample above 8 sts + 8 sts = 16 sts + 4 sts = 20 sts.
Work next round of thumb as follows; K2tog, knit to 1 st before next divide, SSK, K2tog, knit to 1 st before next divide, SSK – thumb is now ready to complete as pattern requires.
Technique 2
I use this one mostly with heavier yarns. I find it easier to work than the other method.
Knit to thumb insertion point, place required sts onto some waste yarn (cable needle in picture – it was handy and the mittens were fast LOL!.
Backwards loop same amount of sts as are on the waste yarn, continue knitting the mitten.
Mitten is knit and the sts ready to be picked up.Stitches are picked up and waiting to be knit. Work the 1 st and 2nd round as above.My Grandson’s Christmas Mittens – Jester Mittens and the Monster Mittens
There will probably be patterns for these mittens – just not sure when!
Never quite sure how to acknowledge this Season. For me it means Merry Christmas, not because of any religious meaning, but because it was a merry time of the year for our family. One that included presents, good food, and many friends and family and laughter, there was always laughter. It was my Mother’s favourite time of year and the whole house reflected her joy in the Season. Because of this – it is also my favourite time of the year!
So Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukka, Blessings this Solstice or however you and yours celebrate this Season of Light – I wish you all much joy and love.
Every December for the last 7 or so years I have published a pattern on Ravelry that I make free for the month of December though January 1. It is my way of thanking you and wishing you all a Wonderful Holiday Season.
This year’s pattern is the Mendenhall Shawl. This Shawl took a couple of years to come to fruition. It was going to be a joint project between Selena Miskin of Wayfaring Yarns and myself. Selena’s yarns and my patterns. We were the Sweater Sisters.
Beautiful Mendenhall Glacier – those colours!
Selena used to dye the most beautiful yarns, but due to health problems she hasn’t been able to dye any beautiful things for a couple of years. I kept hoping that would change – but life doesn’t always work that way. So, I am releasing the as a gift from us both.
Included in the Mendenhall Shawl pattern is the code to purchase the co-ordinating Mendenhall Hat pattern. If you have purchased the 7 Hats More ebook you will not need to the code as the hat pattern is already in your ebook – the shawl will automatically be added to your ebook in your Ravelry library. This will be the last pattern of the book.
Good Health, Happy Holidays and a very Merry Season to us all!
My grandson’s favourite knitted items are mittens and hats. He has a large collection of hats as his head doesn’t grow anywhere near as fast as the rest of him! He has a large head size for a seven year old – bigger than his mothers!
So, I have started to knit him mittens, a new pair or two every year. They are fun projects and can be quick as well! I seem to have problem with mittens though – I always start out smaller than they should. This year, just like last year, I have made the first mitten too small. I should have checked my own pattern for the average lengths of the spacing!
These pattern in these mittens is from my Reindeer Vest pattern. I made him the vest and his bear a matching vest a few years ago. I have always like the colourful diamond motif! If I have enough time – I might make him some dragon mittens! You see I have this idea….
The First mitten is of course too small – so on to the next one! Yarn is Patagonia Organic Merino.
Yesterday Elise and I got together for a quick little photo shoot at Woodstream Park. We had a lot of fun. It was a beautiful morning and the trees and surrounding foliage was so full of colour. Gorgeous backdrop for the knitting!
This is a pattern that I am working on for Cindy and Roy of Gathering Yarn. The yarn is a superwash merino aran called Bingo – a lovely yarn to work with.
The rest of the items are a few hats and accessories that will be showing up in the next few weeks!
Last Fall I was approached by Susan Gibbs of Juniper Moon Farm Yarns to designs a collection of hats and accessories for this Winter 22/23 Season. So began an epic knitting journey. I created 16 patterns, many with coordinating accessories to be released this fall.
I don’t think that I have ever created so many patterns in such a short period of time. The yarns made it easy and the support was great. I hope that you see something that you like.
Many of them will be in your local yarn stores if they carry Juniper Moon. Some are already up on Ravelry with the rest to follow as Juniper Moon has time to put them up. I have linked up the patterns that are on Ravelry, just click on them and you will be wisked away to the pattern. The patterns currently on Ravelry include Cherry, Dimity, Dubloons, Helm, Smoosh and Arabesque and Cricket.
When new yarns come in my brain sets off all sorts of ideas of what to do and when to do it and what should come first! I pull out my stitch libraries and pore over the options trying to find the perfect stitch to show off the new yarn that has captured my imagination.
Star tweed is a stitch pattern from Barbara Walker’s first stitch library, and it is an easy, repeating, 2 colour slip stitch pattern. Knit in a very bulky wool the tweed is a bold statement that can show off any two colours beautifully! Can you see it in two shades of grey? Or maybe a bold black and white?
Boldly Star Tweed
Why Not a Headband
Warm Cowl
Big Bold Mittens
Package Deal
I am featuring this stitch in my new pattern Boldly Star Tweed. Star Tweed is a basic Winter Set, Hat, Mittens and Cowl. The Cowl is small which also makes it a great headband. The complete set can be made from 2 skeins of Estelle’s new yarn – Eco Scandinavian Bulky. Making it quick to knit and economical. I used a range of needle sizes – 6.5mm and 8.0mm for the mittens and 8.0mm and 10mm for the hat and cowl. The Eco Scandinavian Bulky worked up fabulously on any of the needle sizes I tried.
Eco Scandinavian Bulky is a thick and squishy, super bulky yarn made from 100% organic Scandinavian Wool and is GOTS certified. Its single ply construction has great stitch definition, feels soft next to the skin, and let’s you knit or crochet beautiful projects super quickly!
Hand wash cool, lay flat to dry.
The Eco Scandinavian Bulky lives up to its’s name. It is soft, bulky, with a slightly uneven texture that works up quickly. The yardage is very generous – it seems to go on forever! I just kept on knitting and there is still some left over!
Boldly Star Tweed will be available on Ravelry in a couple of weeks.
How to work the star tweed stitch.
Star tweed is a slip stitch and wrap style pattern. it is worked over 4 sts. Stitches are made and moved (dropped over) on every other row. The rows in-between the working rows are knit plain. Note – the first 2 sts of every working row will be slipped forward or back so that the pattern is offset. See pattern for full details.
slip the first st, find the yarn that runs between the slipped st and the next st on the left-hand needlemake a new st by knitting into the space below the running yarn.pull the yarn through to form a st., slip the next st.knit the next st and then lift the first slipped stitch over the next 3 sts.drop the lifted stitch onto the knitting.knit the 4th st, repeat from
What do you think? Ready to give it a try? I will post again when the pattern goes live with a code to allow you to purchase the pattern at reduced price!
How do you work? It quiet solitude? In the hub hub of a busy room? On a neat desk with everything laid out? In chaos?
Everyone – creative or non creative has a favourite place and way of working. There are even magazines devoted to creative work spaces! A friend of mine collects them for ideas and dreams of what she would like her ideal creative space to be like. I would really like to know about your spaces. Is it a dedicated space? A shed or studio out back? A room with lots of shelves and space designed just for you and your creativity? A spot in your living room?
I have that too – a spot in the living room, surrounded by yarn and chaos, where I sit and knit and be part of the family dynamic.
I would like my formal workspace to be tidy – I really would! I seldom achieve that as I would rather be creating than tidying – and when I start to tidy ideas come out of the chaos and bite me in the proverbial a… and all thoughts of tidying go out the window as I dive into a new idea! I have often said that I work best in Chaos. And right now Chaos is my constant companion.
Right now my workspace has achieved the honour of being the messiest and most chaotic it has ever been! Perhaps this is a good thing as I have needed to be more creative in my knitting designs than ever. Its this big new “thing” I am doing. It requires a lot of time and creativity – and as I still am working full time – my housekeeping – never a great deal – has completely fallen to the wayside.!
This big “thing” is a designing job. A largish number of patterns in varying yarns for a largish yarn company – in a smallish piece of time! It has been so much fun and so challenging in a creative way! I will share more as I can! I have had help with sample and test knitting – we all need help sometimes. I am learning how to ask for it as needed.
bees and butterflies
There have small breaks where I have worked on my own patterns as I waited for yarns to arrive. Bees and Butterflies was created in one of those breaks. I should have been tidying – but you know how the story goes! LOL!
My desktop – it can barely be seen right now! Much more chaotic than normal!
UPDATE – Started this a few months ago – in the height of the crazy creative time. I am in a bit of a lull right now – working on things for myself and looking forward to the next spate of crazy times. Still can’t really talk about the earlier project but the patterns are due to drop any day! Then I will be talking like crazy!
I am almost finished the Shetland Fusion Ebook. I “found” another pattern that I had started before Covid and it is perfect for Shetland Fusion! Summer Shells, a half Pi shawl that features Shetland Lace Shell Patterns! Umm and maybe a few beads.
I had been following Catherine for a while, but I first really met Catherine over a year ago when I purchased some Baby Doll/Mohair/Silk blend fingering from her last June. It was full on Covid and we spoke briefly on her porch where my little bag of yarn was waiting for me. I had been following her for a while – the concept of Canadian sourced wool yarns was very intriguing to me. I started a shawl with the yarn and then life got very busy. I was thinking of finishing the project as part of the Wool-a-long but the silk content was source outside of Canada. I might finish it as part of the project – if there is time.
As local as it gets! Baby doll fibre from Vancouver Island, mohair from the interior, sourced silk, milled in Kamloops at @that_darn_yarn_shop
The Wool-a-Long has been created to feature Canadian Wool, Canadian Designers and Canadian Makers in order to deepen understanding of our Canadian Fibre resources and to encourage and support its growth as a viable industry. Catherine has long been a proponent of supporting local sheep growers and has worked hard to keep perfectly usable wool fibre from being dumped into local landfills.
So starting Aug 1 and going until Oct 31 – we talk the talk and walk the walk – working with Canadian Wool (or fibre)(mandatory) and Canadian Designers (encouraged) (yes, this is self serving as I am a Canadian Designer!) and Canadian Makers (also encouraged).
Welcome to the 1st annual Great Canadian Wool-A-Long! This event will run from August 1 to October 31, 2022, and is designed to celebrate Canadian wool and fibre in all of its forms. Crafters of all varieties are invited to participate, and the only requirement is that you use wool that has been grown by sheep (or fibre animal or plant) that live in Canada and post a photo of your finished item!
SmallBird Workshop
There will be prizes and lots of opportunity to talk to other like minded crafters through the various social media sites (links below) and Catherine is organizing an almost weekly zoom meeting.
So I am in! I am going to work with a Tunis Lambswool that was sourced by Catherine from Ontario and I am going to design a cropped vest with a shirttail hem and textural details as my project. Come on along and watch my progress, all feedback welcome, and I will watch and encourage your progress as well!
Happy Knitting
Lynette
I have 16 patterns that were designed with Canadian Wools.
