Fancy AF

 Happy 2021, freaking finally! 2020, felt like the longest and shortest year yet. To celebrate the arrival of the new year I have a new shawl pattern. It is a fun, quick, and easy shawl for the new year, just what you need. The pattern is available to purchase here. 

The name of the shawl comes from the original colorway name 'Playing Dress Up' in the Yowza base from Miss Babs. The base is 100% Superwash Merino and it is divine! Back to the name. Going from 'Playing Dress Up' made me think of the 'Pretty, Pretty, Princess' game from when my sisters and I were kids, which then led to the thinking how fancy you feeling playing that game and dress up. So the name Fancy AF came to be:) 

Fancy AF is a heavier weight shawl (DK) knit using a US 7 needle so it knit up super quick. You also get to enjoy every stitch being just slightly different if you're using a variegated yarn. I utilized drop stitches to make the fringe and an i cord bind off for a clean finish. 

If you want to substitute yarn you can pretty much use whatever you want. The shaping is simple and the stitch work is garter so and fiber will work. I do recommend blocking to get the kinks out of the fringe when you drop it. 

Get ready to feel Fancy as F*ck in your new shawl! 

Shadows Shawl

Last pattern for 2020! Just a few days before the end of the year and I have a new shawl to share! Shadows was knit earlier in the year and is now ready for it's release. As my usual this yarn was purchased quite awhile ago at Knit City Vancouver (I think circa 2018? I guess not that long) but I saw the variegated yarn first and knew that I needed to find a complementary contrast color. A few booths over I found the gold and it was a match made in heaven. 

Shadows uses stripes, garter, and a fun modern take on feather and fan. I loved combining the colors and pulling the pattern together, I definitely didn't know if I was going to have enough yarn to finish. 

The bases that I used for this sample are a wool/silk and a wool/cashmere/nylon and they are luscious, but they aren't necessary for a great knit. Any blend of yarn would be great for this shawl, I do think that an alpaca blend would be too fuzzy to show the lace nicely. If you are planning to use an acrylic base yarn for this knit I would recommend blocking the lace with steam, here is a link to that process so you can take a read. 

Happy Knitting and a Happy New Year! 

Fall Socks

Just a little post to update you on a few things that I've been knitting that aren't design knitting. I knit up these two lovely pairs of fall socks from dyers I haven't used before! 

First pair is a 'seconds' skein from Gauge Dyeworks, an amazing base and colorway! I love they feel like fall to me but aren't in your face about it. I think for the next pair (because of course I have more in stash) I'm going to knit a 60 stitch sock vs. 64. I found these just slightly on this side of too big. 

The second pair of socks screams fall, I guess I want very subtle or totally in your face:). These ones were dyed by Dyed for Ewe and the colorway is Fall Foliage. SO PRETTY! 

I loved the change in color, I loved the base, and I will definitely be purchasing from this shop again! Thanks for checking out what I've been working on! 

Bauble Extravaganza

I just published the best pattern! Bauble Extravaganza is so fun and full of Christmas spirit and joy and fun. These socks were so much fun to design and knit! There is a toe up version and a cuff down version! 

Bauble Extravaganza was my first time reaching out to a dyer and asking for a collaboration, that was nerve-racking. Ashlee from Smash Knit was amazing to work with, I was pretty particular about the color that I was looking for, I wanted a green that wasn't too yellow olive but not too spruce blue either. 

What a fantastic color she came up with! I loved it in the photos she sent me and I loved it even more when it showed up on my doorstep. 

The tree for this pattern use a very simple cable that I was able to do without a cable needle but are really easy if you've never knit a cable before, the rest if the tree was done with twisted stitches. My beading method was using a teeny-tiny crochet hook and placing my beads on the socks individually. 

As usual, this is a fully written pattern and can be used with any sock yarn. I prefer my socks with some amount of nylon (this particular is a 85% Merino, 15% Nylon) but if you're comfortable with a 100% Wool yarn for socks then knit away! 

I cannot wait to see the combos that everyone uses, my testers came up with some amazing projects. 

Gradiently Yours

We almost all have a gradient hanging around the stash or our color palette is so similar that we could make a gradient from our leftovers. Gradiently Yours is the perfect shawl/ette for those yarns! 

I was asked by Adina, the owner of Cloth Carousel, to design a shawl for the new yarn Zauberperlen by Schoppel-Wolle. The yarn comes in a ring and has each individual color already wound into a ball, how simple is that! 

I chose a simple triangle shape with a series of drop stitches to compliment the gradient, I didn't want the pattern to overpower the yarn but I also didn't want the knit to be too simple. This is a great social project for the holidays! It's so easy to memorize which makes easy to put down and pick back up.

Here you can see the drop stitches featured and how they run through the gradient. When you're looking for yarn to make this shawl you can pretty much use any yarn you have in stash. The only changes you would need to make is adjusting your needle size for the weight of yarn you pick. I can't wait to see the combinations people come up with! 

Antler Socks

I have to say that cabling is not my favorite technique in knitting. Cabling is time consuming and I find them not that easy to count without keeping track on paper. But, I got over my hesitation and broke out the cables for my new Antler Sock pattern, you can purchase the pattern here on Ravelry! 

Antler is fun to knit by using the same cable three different ways which makes it so easy to memorize! With the way these cables are constructed I found I didn't need to keep count on paper, I was able to read my knitting and keep track. 

The yarn is used is a Merino, Nylon, and Yak blend that was delicious to knit with. I've never used yak blend before in socks so I'm excited to see how they wear. The yak gives the yarn a beautiful heathered effect, so pretty! As with the majority of my patterns, any sock yarn will work. I would recommend something with some nylon and my testers found that colorways that were solid or semi-solid worked best to show the cables. I can't wait to see what gorgeous yarn you pull out for my new pattern! 

Baby Bobble Cowl

 I have a new cowl pattern! I have been trying to design/find the perfect tuck-in-your-coat cowl and Baby Bobble Cowl fits the bill perfectly. 

Baby Bobble Cowl uses 100 grams of fingering weight yarn for a 23" circumference and 12" deep cowl. I used a Merino/Cashmere/Nylon blend for my sample and it's deliciously cozy. I believe any fingering weight yarn would work but I would stick with something that is majority wool. A tester used a wool/silk blend and had trouble with the bobbles not popping out enough. I also think a blend with alpaca or llama wouldn't be a great choice because the halo from the yarn will hide the work in the twisted stitches. 

My sample was knit in a solid/tonal yarn but the majority of my testers used variegated! If you are looking for clear definition for your bobbles and twisted stitches I would suggest a tonal, solid, or lightly speckled yarn. There are so many options I can't wait to see all the different ones ya'll come up with!