Indie Designer Day

Designer: Coral Marion
Etsy Shop: Greasemoth fiber arts
Rav ID: greasemoth
Some Great Designs: greasemoth's Rav Designer Page

I love a designer with whimsy!

Greasemoth has but three(ish) designs currently published:

The pictured In the Clouds skirt caught my eye with its texture and colour changes.
I love that wide waist band and button closure.

Make sure to stop by her designer page and check out her tutorial for knitting or crocheting from the edge of fabric. There's several pictures of pieces created using this technique (offered for free!), including halter tops, skirts and hat brims.

She also has the Nefertiti Dreadlock Tam, a crocheted structural piece that would be able to make use of several beautifully coloured yarns.

New Pattern, Walk in the Leaves; Or, Help Support the SPCA

Today I've published a new pattern!

Walk in the Leaves are inspired by the best of seasons: autumn.
It was autumn when I went to the SPCA, and fell for the sweet, elderly dog Ellie.
Ellie lives at my parents' place, out in the country; she's a very happy dog who is sweet, intelligent, and enriches our lives. It was the many beautiful, crisp-autumn-day walks that I thought of while designing these little lacy legwarmers.

If it weren't for the local SPCA, she could have still been a stray dog, or perhaps even worse.

All proceeds from Walk in the Leaves will be donated to the Hamilton/Burlington SPCA. I (and all the critters!) thank you for your support.

Sizing: We all come in many sizes, and Walk in the Leaves contains instructions for you to customize the legwarmers to fit YOU just right. It is sized for a 14” leg circumference.

Knit in the round, these speedy accessories would make a great last minute gift!

Indie Designer Day

Designer: Lily Kate France
Blog: joli house
Rav ID: lilykate
Some Great Designs: lilykate's Rav Designer Page
There's been a few instances where I've profiled very young designers on Indie Designer Days, but I think this week's takes the cake:

Lilykate is a very talented 14-year-old designer, who already has many wonderful published patterns both independently and in magazines! (her mom is also a designer! See her lovely work as well here).

Her aesthetic is lovely, every-day-wearable. See the pictured McKee shawl, her latest design. I love the unexpected little short-row shaping. It adds so much to a simple piece.

Alysha is a very pretty cherry-cable hat. Something I can see myself wearing all the time in the chilly weather.

Kentmere is a garter stitch cowl with a twist - quite literally! Another cool weather wardrobe staple, it was this piece that first caught my eye and made me want to profile lilykate.

Finally, I'd like to point you in the direction of Haslam, a unique and beautifully simple shawl/wrap, which makes use of the most basic of eyelets to great effect.

Because He Makes Me Smile; Or, Elbie the Reading Lovebird

A very speedy interlude today.
I found this picture hiding on my over-clogged, uber-foldered desktop.
It was taken this summer.
Aw, he thinks he's people!

PS: That's a great book we're reading.

Indie Designer Day

Designer: Lisa Risager
Blog: the Nerdy kNitter
Rav ID: risager
Some Great Designs: risager's Rav Designer Page

This week's designer is part of the previously blogged about Artemis Adornments. Profiling all the designers in this group has been fun!

To show you some of risager's work...

Red Riding Hoodie, pictured here, has a lovely, subtle flare across the back that's just dreamy. I love the way she's manipulated this simple shape into something both causal and elegant.

The Open Source Shawl is another example of simple yet lovely design. The contrasting-colour edging makes this unique and beautiful.

The final piece I'll be pointing out is the suitably named November Slippers. This knit is the perfect project for this month. I feel cozy just looking at them!

Milk Maiden: Announcing Individual Downloads

I'm not sure how it's possibly been two years, but back in August 2010 one of my patterns was published in Brave New Knits.

With the end of this two year term I can now offer Milk Maiden for individual sale.

Just hop on over to Ravelry to download the pattern for $6.50 CAD.

Milk Maiden

Yarn

Blue Sky Alpaca Melange (110 y/100 m per hank), 7 (7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15) hanks, 100% Baby Alpaca, colourway Salsa

Needles

24” 2.75 mm/#2 circular needles

24” 3.25 mm/#3 circular needles

2.75 mm/#2 dpns

3.25 mm/#3 dpns                                                               

Gauge

5.5 sts and 8 rows/1” in stockinette stitch, unblocked

Sizes

XS (S, M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL)

This sweater is designed with negative ease. Choose the size that is approximately 5” smaller than your actual bust measurement.

Skills Used

Grafting (Kitchener stitch)

Indie Designer Day

Designer: Paula Pereira
Blog: Peace, Knit, Love
Rav ID: NinaPaula
Some Great Designs: NinaPaula's Rav Designer Page

"I love designing accessories and garments, researching and studying about yarns and the perfect fit, with the same excitement that I admire and knit projects from other designers!"

Such a great outlook on designing! I think it comes through in her pieces.
The pictured Cadhla is one of my favourites. This adorable (and free!) shawl has one of those hallmarks of good design: the proper use of bobbles!

I'm also a fan of the Raaga Belted wrap. Check out how fun it looks! Very cozy too. I love the play of simple texture across this cardigan.

Many of her other designs are beautiful shawls; the lightweight Aura, and versatile Dalilah, in three sizes!

And if you like texture, check out Aimée Cowl.