Indie Designer Day

Designer: Abby Frelich
Blog: reluctantMANGO Knits
Rav ID: reluctantMANGO
Some Great Designs: reluctantMANGO's Rav Designer Page

This designer's first published pattern are the beautiful Dionysus Socks (photograph © Dan Jackson).

I don't think I can describe these beauties better than her quote here:
"Wild vines start at the cuff and wind down the leg to spill over the heel, paired with lush leaf panels that weave themselves together in a riot of lace to create a sock fit to wear to any party."

As is well established, I like me a good back story. Creatively named and imaginatively described knits show extra thought and effort the designer has put into her/his work.
And, I'm hard pressed to suggest any better flight of foot-covering whimsy than a vino-soaked loll-about with Greek gods and "riots" of lace.
Srsly. I think that's my favourite line.

Keep a look out for more of her work!

Enter New Colour Crush; And, A Cute Dog

You've strolled with me through my dedication to yellow, my collection of orange, my hankering for green, and even my surprising attraction to blue.

Now my rainbow is almost complete with The Perfect Red.
I've been looking for years for this colour. A wondrous scarlet, with a hint of sheen. Something that screams hawt.

Finally I've found it, in madelinetosh's worsted weight merino. Colourway? TART. Oh yes indeed.

Here you see me with my Tarty new sweater, and my parent's new pup, Ellie.

Well, she's not really a pup (the vet estimates her age at around nine). I got her from the SPCA - the poor sweetie was a stray.
Being a "senior" dog, I was immediately drawn to the name Ellie (ie: Elliot, as in, Anne Elliot!) Miss Elliot was an old maid at 27, but the magnificent mutt that is Ellie resembles no such moniker. She's as rocking and rollicking as any young one. Loves the belly rubs and playing fetch (well, half fetch. Mainly "grab-thrown-stick-and-pretend-to-kill-it").

She kindly agreed to pose with me in these photos taken this past weekend at a lovely park near my parent's house.

My Tart sweater was whipped off in about three days, in as many hanks of yarn. The yarn is beautiful and perfect and soft and I want more.

It's a simple bottom-up construction, with cables running along the sides of the body and underside of the sleeves. The neckline didn't come out as I was hoping, but c'est la vie.

Contrived as this photo above appears, it is good for illustrating those side-running cables.

The day was perfect, with no jacket required for the hiking and picnicking we enjoyed. I love me some October!!

Though grey-in-the-muzzle, Ellie Joe (for that is her full name)¹, is full of energy and hard to keep up with. She proved to be a rather co-operative photography partner. I hope she'll agree to pose for future projects :)

¹Elliot as in Anne Elliot of course. And Joe? She's named after my dad. He had several pups growing up, being a farm boy. And one of them was a pretty little German Shepherd cross named Judy. She reminded me a lot of Ellie.

Indie Designer Day

Designer: Karin Crelling
Blog: The popcorn thoughts of a knitter
Etsy Shop: dyeforsocks1965
Rav ID: dyeforsocks1965
Some Great Designs: dyeforsocks1965's Rav Designer Page

A quick perusal of this knitter's designs shows her expertise in lovely hand-warming patterns!

First up is the pictured Loopy Leaves Gloves. Her use of cables is very effective in these practical yet pretty gloves.

Her Heart Lace Gauntlets have a great little description on their pattern page, which makes me love them even more:

"Fashioned after medieval metal gauntlets worn by the knights to protect their hands, these gloves allow you to wear them over your coat sleeves, giving you extra warmth and you can show off your stitchery, of course."

The classic Diamond Trellis Gloves makes use of a wonderfully simple all-over texture, and the Swirled Cables Mitts show off a bit of a funky twist on the basic cabled mitt.

Don't miss dyeforsocks1965's etsy shop, chock-full of beautiful hand-dyed yarns, knit mitts, patterns and other great yarnny items.

And, check out her latest blog post here. Look at those delicate wedding gloves!

Classic Books and Why You'll Like Them

Recently, Dover Publishing approached me with a request for some book reviews.
Yes indeed! I exclaimed. And shortly thereafter, I had two lovely new knitting books in my hands.

I'm very appreciative for the opportunity to review these publications, because they're both classic knitting books which, shockingly, I've not had the chance to peruse.

First up is the commemorative edition of Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac. Yes, I can hear your collective jaws drop. I have actually never flipped through this seminal work.
To mark the centenary of Zimmermann's birth, this edition of her month-by-month pattern book includes a fabulous introduction by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.
This may be my favourite snippet from her writing:

"It was recognition. I was a skinny, weird, bookish Canadian teenager who knit all the time, and there I was, felling better about myself because I had finally found another person on earth who seemed to feel as I did... [s]he said things I thought but didn't say. Things like that knitting made her feel clever, that solving knitting problems was like solving real problems, that it was challenging, exciting, fun, engaging and even funny".¹

There's also the wildly popular adult version of the February Baby Sweater by Pamela Wynne.
It's tucked away back there, near the end of the book :)

The second lovely that I was sent is the new and expanded edition of Alice Starmore's Aran Knitting.

As an art history/museum nerd, the first thing that made me gasp was the beautifully illustrated history of aran knitting. Really, who could resist a book that makes the tie between the Book of Kells and knitting?

With information about the how tos, the wherefores and whys regarding this style of knitting, Aran Knitting is an attractive and incredibly useful book. Definitely a classic must-have for the cable-loving knitter.

I'm sorry, I must go: I have cables to drool over.


¹ Introduction to Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac; Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, pg. xiv

Indie Designer Day

Designer: Crystal Adame
Blog: Crystal Knits
Rav ID: cadame
Some Great Designs: cadame's Rav Designer Page and Rav Projects Page

As a new designer, cadame shows great adeptness with pattern and texture in her pieces.

Take Morning Dew (pictured) for example. The softly flowing waves of knit stitch are complemented by the more aggressive peaks, complete with delicate lines of yarn overs. All elements work together to create an interesting scarf (which, as we all know, are the best kinds to knit!)

Ripples of Grey demonstrates this skill as well. This knit's texture looks so soft, squishy, warm and inviting! I hope cadame does post the pattern for this classic-looking piece.

And, I love to point out something a little different from designers: a very fantastic crocheted Cookie Monster.
I think that might be the perfect Cookie Monster blue!

Noro's On My Mind

Greetings from a rainy October morning!
I'm getting warmed from the chill in the air by just thinking about this post :)

Way back in the summer, there was the always fabulous (and sadly, only annual) tent sale at my LYS, The Needle Emporium.

Being the keener yarnnies that we are, three friends and I all arranged to be there at the very start. We were almost the very first people in line.
Evidence: see photo below.

That's us there, two people in from the front!

We all made out like bandits. I had a dangerously full bag of Noro Silk Garden.
See my pretties below.

I'll take this opportunity to ask a wee poll:
How many of you have a LYS? Or, for those lucky ducks, more than one LYS?
What's your favourite yarn shop? Or, even better, your best experience in a shop?

The Knitters Go Camping - To Great Success!

As mentioned ages ago, five knitter friends and I all trooped up to a nearby campsite on a rainy Labour Day weekend.

No matter for the rain, since we all had a RAWKIN time. Quickly falling into skill-based roles, we had a campfire cook extrodinairre (see Mousewife's bloggy here!), a wood chopper par excellence (see her bloggy here!), and a couple great fire starters.

I, dear reader, along with a blogless bud, was part of the tarp-stringing team. It's a bloomin good thing for those tarps. We stayed snug and dry all weekend long :)

Pictured right, you see the genius that is Rainbow Fire. A night's worth of entertainment in a tiny packet. I always knew I loved colour; to combine my love for fire as well made me a happy camper indeed.
Hardy har.

Some knitting did go down, as did a fair amount of spinning (from a very talented friend!)

This may be the inaugural year for an annual event!

If you can wrangle together a bunch of knitters, and ya'll like camping, you need to go. It's so much fun.

Indie Designer Day

Designer: Elizabeth Wolden
Blog: Messy Beasts
Rav ID: BethWolden
Some Great Designs: BethWolden's Rav Designer Page

Ok. I love October. So, I'm already in an awesome mood this morning.
And now, I get to talk about this designer!
I love love love (times three, that is. To the factor of awesome!) the whimsy in her designs.

It was really difficult choosing which pattern would have its photo slapped up on this profile; in the end, I chose the first one that caught my eye, Susie's Long Stockings.
I'm sure, dear readers, you can get why these are so excellent. I think I want to do nothing but knit myself a pair of these right now.
(Incidentally, I think I need to invest in the perfect pair of cute shoes to wear with handknit socks/stockings. Would you put your vote in for some black Mary Janes? That seems to be one of the most popular choices).

Then there's Meta Mittens, a pair of sweet wee fair isle mitts, with a pair of sweet wee sheepies happily emblazoned upon them. So adorable!

And OMG, her Lady Jane Gloves. Ok, is it wrong to say I'm so way mondo jealous that she designed these beauties first? They're perfectly up my alley. I LOVE THEM. /End gushing.

Can't wait to see what she designs next!!

Indie Designer Day

Designer: mome
Rav ID: mome
Some Great Designs: mome's Rav Projects Page

Today's designer is a knitter after my own heart. In her Rav "About Me", she writes:
"The best part is starting a new project, that is where all adrenalin is!"
And how!

But she certainly does well with her finished designs.
Check out her Honey, I'm home! (pictured right). I superlove this texture, and the deep ribbing on the sleeves and waist. A cool twist on a classic cardi.

Texture is something mome's really got down. Witness the cute skirt Gone, with its dancing cables and wee lace eyelets.

While Future dress isn't actually said garment, it's lovely in its current form. I can imagine how fab the dress version would be! Like Honey, I'm home, deep cuff detailing adds interest to this sweater knit.

Finally, I'll direct your attention to a sweater she designed for her daughter, Pink lady. Texture abounds! The fun things you can do for a little girl's garment! I'm particularly a fan of the bobbles-used-to-perfection on the flowers :)

The Case of the Camping Cat

I've been here, there and other whereabouts this summer.
I've got a few posts up my sleeve; thought I'd first share the tale of my (one time) feline roommate.

A rather unenthused Christmas gift recipient, my parent's cat Dante paid me a three day visit a few weeks ago. They were all off camping for the weekend, and said kitty cat would have been super unenthused to accompany them for the whole shebang.

So, to my apartment he went (and truly, reader, my bedroom/canary room he did not enter. My boys would have been super DUPER unenthused by his presence.)

I had a bit of fun confusing him with a singing, moving plastic American Goldfinch.

Then, for one night, he was toted along with me up to the campsite.

There was plenty a sight to be seen, but he was very happy indeed to chill in the trailer.

I, on the other hand, enjoyed my time canoeing.

Dad and brother take canoe off car.


CanaryLady takes arty shot of water.


Yet again, naked trees and cattails.


And the prettiness of roots half-submerged.

Indie Designer Day

Designer: Iryna Klionava
Blog: Knotting Noodles
Rav ID: klionik
Some Great Designs: klionik's Rav Designer Page

While the leaves are still green on the trees, I'd like to show you the beauitful work by klionik.

Namely, her hat Liffey, pictured right. Now those are what I call scrummptious cables! With a dramatic interplay between cable, wee bit of lace and subtle texture, this hat has it all! PS: the tie in the back = adorable.

A very functional and sweet little knit, klionik's Peyote Pincushion would be a wonderful addition to your sewing (and knitting!) basket.
(that is, if you indeed have a basket that's large enough for your stash. Oh, you do?.... you mean, you aren't living in a sea of yarn, sometimes threatening to overflow from the bounds of closet, hamper, cedar chest and other random hiding places?)

Finally, I'll point you to her stylin Green Grocery Eco Bag. It's got a purty mesh lace pattern, and "has been tested on 3 kg of oranges: will hold more." I love that; pre-testing its weight load!

Robin Hood and Gothic Arches; Or, White Horse Hill

Pattern: White Horse Hill (buy now)
Yarn: madelinetosh sock, 2 hanks (really, one and a third)
Needles: 2.25mm circs

In May I explained how a hottie McGee in an awesomesauce movie captured my attention.
Oh, how inspired I was :)
And now, finally, is the completed pattern!

I was so excited to knit this piece. I did more planning for this wee wrap than I have for almost any other pattern I've knit. I knew precisely what I wanted it to look like, and guess what: this time, I actually achieved it!

It's knit from the top down, with charts to guide your way. Featuring Gothic arches (or at least, my humble attempts at such reproduction) made from fun cables and twisty twists.
The bottom section, that ruffly bit there? That's mainly just moss stitch, with the main arms of the arches extending downwards to anchor the "windows" to the edge of the wrap.

I hope this is one of those (rare) instances when a ruffle is a good thing. It was mondo fun to knit.

This was also in part due to the stunning beauty of the yarn. Not only is it unbelievably soft and springy, the rich, rich colour is almost hypnotizing.

I've worn it around a few times; it's a pretty adaptable piece. The ribbon lacing means that you can wear it tighter or looser, depending on your desired look. Personally, I'm a fan of the long ends dangling down and dancing in the breeze (which, believe me, I tried to get a nice photo of. The wind, she no cooperated! Shifty nature... you just can't reason with it.)

Brave New Knits: My Milk Maiden

Pattern: Milk Maiden
Source: Brave New Knits

I've been waiting what feels like ages to post about this here knit.

I couldn't believe it when Julie Turjoman asked if I'd like to be included in her book about knitters and the interwebby blogosphere. I was so very, very excited! But it was, of course, all to be secret knitting.

I began work on Milk Maiden in early spring of 2009. At that time, the museum I work at had an exhibition featuring printwork of a number of Dutch masters. In particular, Lucas van Leyden's Milk Maid caught my attention.
While my own Milk Maiden isn't a totally faithful repro of van Leyden's barefoot farmworker, I took a few pieces of ephemeral inspiration from his engraving.

It's a fairly basic bottom-up raglan construction (you can't stop me on those sweaters!), with a bit of a fun twist with the ribbing on the bust and wee bit of lace detail knit separately and then stitched on afterward.

These pictures were taken around May 2009, just before I mailed the pullover off to Julie for photoging and promotional purposes.

It's really very cool to see the same piece I knit being worn by a real model!

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you, dear readers. If not for your continued support, I wouldn't have been much of a blogger. Would have missed out on so much inspiration. Certainly wouldn't have caught Julie's eye - it's all thanks to you that she thought to contact me, and I got to be involved in this great book.

Thanks so very much!

Indie Designer Day

Designer: Susi
Blog: runningsusi
Rav ID: runningsusi
Some Great Designs: runningsusi's Rav Designer Page

Now, before I head out on that sweet, sweet camping trip, I have to share with you this week's well-timed designer, runningsusi.

Well timed because, well, my chilly weekend camping trip would do well to have a beautiful toque like the pictured Free Spirit Hat. The colourwork on this piece is amazing. I love how it's totally unisex, and a perfectly portable knit for camping!

In another demonstration of colourwork smarts, runningsusi's Fair Isle Stash socks are a beautiful and wonderful way to use up all those wee remnants from various and sundry socky knitting!

Lastly, I'll direct you to her very cool Knitted Tee. How awesome is that stitch pattern and texture?

...And The Winner Is...

Congratualtions to Allyson! You can just email me your mailing info, and the book will be on its way to you asap.

Thanks to everyone who participated, and all your kind comments!

Now, I'm off to spend what is shaping up to be a rainy, rainy weekend in a couple of tents with five other knitters.

WOOOOO!

There's always a silver lining: perhaps the excessive precipitation will encourage reams and reams of knitting to be completed. Oh, the productivity!!