Thursday, May 11, 2023

The Palette

Hey knitters! Does knitting make you feel like an artist? Does the combination of colors and stitches feel like art work to you? My latest shawl design is the perfect pattern to bring out the artist in ANY knitter. 


The Palette is a 3/4 shaped shawl that uses 5 different stitches to create the perfect opportunity for knitters to explore color combinations and knit a truly unique piece. Why The Palette? While designing it truly felt like a painters palette opened up to me! The original sample was knit in a jewel tone palette but knitters could use neons with a black base, or neutrals with a cream base. So many options for different color tastes! 


The 3/4 shape is easy to memorize and so comfy to wear. It feels like a cardigan draped across the shoulders and stays in place. Each different stitch pattern is written out and easy to follow. 


The Palette was designed in fingering weight yarn and a variety of bases, the main color is a wool/silk blend but the contrast colors run the gamut of 100% wool, merino/nylon, merino/cashmere/nylon so any combination of fingering weights will work. Each of the contrast colors uses less than 100 grams, the largest being 75 grams. So many options open up if you want to use scraps! 

I can’t wait to see all the color combinations you artists come up with! 

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

More Spring Socks!

I am totally addicted to self-striping yarn right now. I want to knit ALL THE YARNS in my stash. I'm also a bit of a collector so I have quite a few to choose from. One dyer, who I have an array of yarns from, is Must Stash Yarns. I've knit one of her Christmas colors and loved working with her yarn, the other colors I have I've pretty much just hoarded. But, this spring, the spring of 2023 I dove into my collection and pulled out the happiest spring colorway. 


My newest finished socks are Firework from Must Stash Yarns and they have been so fun to knit through the gray days of spring. I added the heel flap color (a mini pulled from leftover box) and I love the reverse of the speckle in the heel vs as the main color. The sock is my 'vanilla' recipe, 64 stitches with a modified Eye of Partridge heel flap and a wedge toe. This recipe seems to fit my feet perfectly with a US 1.5 needle. 

Stacy is the owner of Must Stash and she sends out a newsletter with an update every Tuesday, some weeks I just can't even open the email because I know something is going to catch my eye. Do you have a dyer that you do this with? Stacy has a very cool concept that she calls Must Match, which means that your skein of yarn comes broken into two 50 hanks and they start at the exact same place! No trying to match up stripes because she does it for you! Isn't it genius! Now tell me you don't want to go and buy some of her yarn. 

Friday, May 5, 2023

Snap Bags?

Hey y'all, how's is everyone spring so far? It's wavering between grey for the day and sunny the next. As you probably know, if you don't no prob, I'm a bag maker along with a pattern designer. Here is a link to my Etsy if you're interested in checking it out! I designed my bags in three different sizes with a zipper top and pull tabs. Photographed below:) 

I have a lovely knitting friend Brittaney who also sews her own bags, instead of a zipper (which most people can't stand sewing) she uses snaps and brought her kit over for me to try out! I sewed up a bag for myself in fabrics that I've been craving to use and had it ready when she came over for knitting. It was so much easier than I expected and I purchased a kit for myself to use!



Do you think it's a style that you would be interested in owning? I'm thinking of designing a square box bottom bag (paper bag style) that snaps at the top and then can be folded down to make it a yarn bowl? This would work to transfer your project and a single skein of yarn between your house and your knitting hang out! What do you think? Leave me a comment to let me know if I need to get to work!