DIY Rainbow Shawl

Mini skeins are fabulous! I use them as a way to try new dyers or colorways, easy to purchase a few to support a new local yarn shop, and a fantastic way to try new colors outside of your regular palette. 

DIY Rainbow Shawl is the second installment of the Leading Men Fiber Arts quarter designs from All Knit Up Designs. You can check out the 'in-house designer' post here. 

My newest shawl design is an asymmetric triangle shawl that uses as many or as few mini skeins as you'e like! Original sample used 9, 20gram mini skeins to create a kaleidoscope of color on your needles. DIY Rainbow uses two color garter to create unique blends of color between 2 mini skeins. 

The original sample used a variety of dye styles; tonal, speck and variegated but they were all 20 grams. You could also use all 10 grams or 50 grams if you'd prefer. The slip stitch edges give a clean and crisp finish with a nice i-cord bind off. Any minis with a base you're comfortable wearing around your neck are perfect. 

If you'd prefer to use the two color garter technique with less colors and bigger skeins you can check out Dillon or Splash. If you'd like a crescent shape vs a triangle Me Before Brioche is for you. I can't wait to see the Rainbow you come up with! 

In House Designing

 Last April (2024) I attended/vended at Makerfest in Loveland CO. I met lots of lovely vendor and fiber enthusiast. Among those fabulous people were Steve and Andy owners of Leading Men Fiber Arts. Both appreciated my use of scraps and mini skeins in my designs. A bit after the event they reached out and asked if I'd be interested in being the 2025 in-house designer for their mini skein monthly club! Are. You. Kidding. Me. I was so flattered that they asked, but as this is business I asked for details of what this collaboration entails and what the benefits for both sides are. 

All that to say, I'm the in-house designer for Leading Men Fiber Arts for 2025! Once a quarter I'll put out a pattern using mini skeins and Leading Men Yarn while Steve and Andy will put all pattern information into that month's mini skein shipment. After the shipment goes out they will run a knit along with my patterns. 

The patterns will be available to everyone, mini skein subscribers get a special discount code. First pattern is Street Mitts and the second is coming at the end of this month! 

Wild Rhodies Shawl

I told ya'll it was going to be a set! I just can't help myself when I've been inspired and love the inspo story! If you've been around for a while then you know I moved to the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State in Spring 2021. If you didn't, now you know! 

I absolutely love my new home state and have no desire to leave, ever. With that love comes a lot of inspiration. I've previously put out the Puget Sound Beanie and Cowl, now I have the Wild Rhodies Shawl for you! 

Wild Rhodies uses 2 skeins of fingering weight yarn (~900 yards) for a light and airy spring knit. Rhododendrons are the WA state flower and you can see the colors popping out as you drive around The Sound. We've seen buses of this gorgeous flower derring the forest while out hiking. 

I love how the stitches give the variegated yarn a water-like movement so I think variegated yarn would be perfect. The pattern has a fully written repeat so you can make your shawl as large or as small as you'd like. With the simple picot bind off you'll have little bit s of flower petals to wear as your bind off. 

Puget Sound Cowl

Ever fall in love with a stitch pattern or technique and just need to knit with it over and over? I definitely do! I might love the rhythm of the stitch, the way the stitch moved and plays with yarn colors, or just appreciate the way it moves to the eye. 

Once I knit and designed the Puget Sound Beanie I knew I'd be designing other patterns with this stitch to turn it into a series. The simple lace pattern featured in the Puget Sound Cowl gently creates waves in the fabric and moves the colors in a variegated yarn like water. The little pops of contrast colors from the variegated yarn looks like little bits of Poppy's around the Sound. 

Puget Sound Cowl is a single skein design that uses DK weight yarn and a size US 6 needle, for a quick and satisfying knit. This design is perfect to pull from stash and knit for the nature lover in your life. 

Comfy Cozy DK

My original Comfy Cozy shawl has been big hit with the social knitters but not everyone loves fingering weight. It might be too thin, take too long, be intimidating, or just plain don't like it. So, with many requests; Comfy Cozy is now available in DK weight! 

Comfy Cozy DK uses the same broken rib pattern separated by a few rows of plain garter for a squishy, comfy, and warm shawl of the winter months. The heavier fabric gives an extra layer of warmth for when the wind really begins to blow. 

The original sample uses Miss Babs Yowza, a 100% Merino yarn that comes in giant hanks I like to call yarn babies. The colorway is Tea Time Frenzy and it's a lightly variegated yarn with some speckling. I was hesitant at first because I wasn't sure the patten was going to show but the color and the broken rib compliment so well. 

Definitely take a look at the projects on Ravelry if you can, it will be well worth it. So many testers made awesome color blocked and striped versions. You'll get some ideas and maybe be able to pull from stash! You can take a look at my project page here.  

The fall socks that weren't...

Okay, knitting really has no schedule...but...these were 100% finished late! These were supposed to be my fall 2024 socks and they didn't get finished until New Years day, that's how it goes. 

Although I failed to finish them in the 'designated' season I did use some deeper stash for these! I knit another pair of my Duplo Socks pattern in Black Cat Custom Yarn I purchased at KnitCity Vancouver in 2017. It's a privilege to be able to attend a yarn show out of state, let alone out of the country and I really love that I get to try and see different dyers when doing it! 

These fall socks are definitely a Sierra pair of socks, fall colors but in bright neon! I don't normally do neon but these are for my feet so I went wild. I added a contrast heel from Leading Men Fiber Arts and I love how it picks out the pops of purple from the variegation in the yarn. 

I would rate Duplo a 2 out of 5 on the difficulty scale, it's not a vanilla sock (plain stockinette) but it's only knits and purls that are easy to identify once you have the pattern established. If you're looking for a new sock pattern to work with variegated yarn then Duplo is the one for you! 

Street Mitts

When I lived in California the only time I ever really wore mittens was the very few times it snowed, winter soccer practices, and when we went snowboarding and skiing. Moving up to Washington I could not believe how freaking cold I was the first year. 

Mittens are now part of my winter staples from November until about March/April. With the use of more mittens came the want for more matching colors. I have a beautiful pair of pumpkin orange mittens I knit in college to wear while I was waiting for the bus after night classes but pumpkin doesn't really match my purple winter coat all that well. 

With my love for scrappy projects and my need for more mitts the Street Mitts were born! Street Mitts are a broken rib mittens pattern that incorporates mini skeins and fun play with color. Street Mitts are also a collaboration with Leading Men Fiber Arts, I'm their in-house designer for 2025! I'll have another blog post coming about that soon! 

Street Mitts uses less than 100 grams of fingering weight to knit any of the 3 sizes available. I knit both a striped pair and a pair with a single skein to show the possibilities within one pattern. Designed with a US 1.5 needle size means that your favorite sock size should be perfect for this project.

Fingering weight is on the lighter side of yarn weights so for a cool winter climate this is perfect as outer wear, for a cold winter climate Street Mitts make a great mitten liner! Have a fun pop of color tucked inside your regular mittens. I used a hearty Merino/Nylon blend like I'd use for socks so this hard wearing accessory will last me years. 

The stripe pattern of Street Mitts makes them a great project to try out a new color palette or use leftovers from one of your favorite projects. Sometimes you love a color palette and it really doesn't match your style for a large piece. Street Mitts solves that problem by adding just a pop of color and give you the pleasure of a fun knit.