I have been diligently trying to create and release 12 new designs this year, and hopefully, in every year to come, in an effort to make up for far too many years when I couldn’t work on many new designs.
The 2 designs below are #’s 9 and 10 for this year, and as it’s October, it seems I am on track for this year! At least until the holiday season and hubby’s new batch of upcoming surgeries derails me a bit, as well as the weaving I’d like to get back to, if only for a short time.
And lest I forget, I still have outdoor garden work to finish, as well as cleaning the rest of the outdoor windows I began a week or so ago!
As I *am* only one person, some things have long ago fallen by the wayside, like the bi-weekly bread baking, or continuing with the bagel-making experiments, or even getting to finish this year’s spring cleaning!
12 patterns may not sound like a lot, but patterns do take a long time. There’s knitting the samples, making the charts, writing, editing, and proofing the text, taking and adjusting oodles of photos, to get the best ones, then tweaking the layout, so everything logically fits into just as much space as it needs, and no more. I tend to spend as much time writing the patterns as I do knitting the samples!
Some knitters may wonder if I use test knitters or tech editors. Short answer: I do not.
Not only have I been designing and publishing my work for over 30 years, but my experience with designing for print publications for many years, as well as being a juried member of the AKD (Association of Knitwear Designers), previously known as PKDG (Professional Knitwear Designers Guild) helped hone these skills.
LOL, now I wouldn't mind having an assistant to take some of the load off, leaving me more time to design. If said person was also good at creating social media posts and newsletters, all the better! Like many creatives, I’m not very good at promoting myself.
Although, to this end, I spent some time recently reinstalling the IOS into the older iPad. It’s amazing how clogged up that thing got over the years. Even after deleting everything that the iPad allows one to delete, its entire memory was still full.
As we no longer depend on it for day-to-day productivity, I just re-installed the IOS from within iTunes on my iMac. Now, it has under 400 MB memory used up for system, leaving me plenty of space for work. Yay!
I am not one to throw away old technology, willy nilly. It will serve me to take photos, and hopefully, videos, to upload to instagram. I do not need a cell phone, and hence do not have one, and although I researched how to upload to IG from a desktop, it was too bothersome to do it that way.
Now I just need to find time to make IG posts, as well as the FB ones I normally do, and the Mailchimp new product emails, after uploading new designs to 4 websites! But as the world has long gone visual, instead of written (more’s the pity, as I do love words!), I do need to try and fit into customer’s expectations. We’ll see how it goes!
Now, those 2 new patterns!
Marina
About the Design:
This is an easy-to-knit and wear triangular scarf / mini shawl. I knit the first one many years ago in aran weight cashmere, although without the I-cord edging, and have used it almost every day! It serves as a scarf, and as a head scarf on cold mornings. It is knit from the center bottom outward, with Applied I-cord, and can be knit to any width.
I’ve sampled it in squishy, soft, undyed 100% superfine merino, as well as in frothy Cascade Yarns Kid Seta in a shimmering aquamarine held with Kraemer Yarns Stotts Ranch Limited in navy.
Dimensions - before blocking
Width, tip to tip: 50”
Depth, at the center bottom: 12 to 12.5”
Finished Dimensions
Width, tip to tip: 52 to 54.5”
(The aqua/navy fabric blocks a bit larger than the merino.)
Depth, at the center: 12.5 to 12.75”
Materials:
Natural Sample: YarnUndyed non-superwash merino, 182 yds/100 gr: 2 skeins
Sample weighs 159 gr. (5.6 oz.)
Aqua/Navy Sample: Cascade Yarns Kid Seta, 70% mohair, 30% silk, 230 yd / 25 gm: 3 balls #24 aquamarine; and
Kraemer Yarns Stotts Ranch Limited, 52% Luxurious Diamond Fiber Kid Mohair / 48% Superfine Merino Wool, 610 yd / 100 gr: 1 skein
Sample weighs 109 gr. (3.85 oz.)
24-32” US size 10.5 (6.5 mm) ckn
2 Size 10.5 dpns
Tapestry ndl
Gauge:
Natural Merino Sample: 18 sts sts & 24 rows = 4” (10 cm) in St st, and 14 sts and 28 rows (7 ridges) = 4” in garter stitch with size 10.5 ndls.
Aqua / Navy Sample: 16 sts sts & 20 rows = 4” (10 cm) in St st, and 13 sts and 28 rows (7 ridges) = 4” in garter stitch with size 10.5 ndls.
To save time, take time to check gauge
Substitute Yarn Weight: Worsted to Aran (WPI = 11.5 to 13)
Skill Level: Beginner
Beach Roses Hat & Mittens
About The Design:
I first used this Fair Isle pattern for a cell phone cover, then immediately planned these women’s mittens and hat. Most of the color changes are easy to work, only the center motif changes colors frequently.
The roomy mittens are worked Norwegian-style with a back of hand pattern, palm pattern, and 3-st stripes running up each side.
You can knit the hat first, to get familiar with the patterning, as its only shaping is at the crown. I left the hat pompom-less to show off the flowers circling the top, in between the crown shaping stitches.
This set would make a special gift!
Finished Dimensions
Hat Circ: 21.5”, Hat Depth to Top of Crown: 9”
Mitten Circ: 9”, Total Mitten Length: 10”
Cuff Length: 3”, Hand Length: 7”
Materials - Mittens
Lamb’s Pride Worsted, 85% wool / 15% mohair, 190 yd / 4 oz.:
2.64 oz. / 125 yds. #M10 Creme (MC),
.28 oz. / 13 yds. #M04 Charcoal Heather (A),
1.67 oz. / 79 yds. #M166 Plum Smoke (B),
.51 oz. / 24 yds. #M157 Orchid Blush (C),
.31 oz. / 15 yds. #M159 Deep Coral (E),
.08 oz. / 5 yds. #M03 Grey Heather (F), and
Harborside Aran, 100% wool, 162 yd / 100 gr.: .2 oz. / 10 yds. Sandstone (D).
One pair weighs 4.3 oz.
US size 5 (3.75 mm) dpns, set of 5
Tapestry ndl
4 stitch markers
Stitch holder or waste yarn
Materials - Hat
Lamb’s Pride Worsted:
1.87 oz. / 89 yds. #M10 Creme (MC),
.26 oz. / 13 yds. #M04 Charcoal Heather (A),
.46 oz. / 22 yds. #M166 Plum Smoke (B),
1.17 oz. / 56 yds. #M157 Orchid Blush (C),
.2 oz. / 10 yds. #M159 Deep Coral (E),
.11 oz. / 6 yds. #Mo3 Grey Heather (F), and
Harborside Aran: .19 oz. / 9 yds. Sandstone (D).
One hat weighs 3.88 ozs.
US size 7 (4.5 mm) dpns, set of 5
16-24” size 7 ckn
Tapestry ndl
6 stitch markers
Substitute Yarn Weight: heavy worsted
Gauge:
22 sts and 30 rnds = 4” (10 cm) in St st, and 24 and 26 sts = 4” in color patt with size 5 ndls, or size to give gauge.
20 sts and 28 rnds = 4” (10 cm) in St st, and 22 and 25 sts = 4” in color patt with size 7 ndls, or size to give gauge.
Marina is $3.50, Beach Roses is $6, both on Ravelry, Etsy, my site, and Lovecrafts.
Happy Knitting!
Dawn
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