Beach House KAL: Week 3

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For this third week, let’s aim to get the Upper Back completed. This includes instruction from “Upper Back” all the way to the end of the “Back Neck Short Rows”.

Last week’s row upon row of mesh stitch might have been relaxing (or boring!). This week will definitely mix it up!

• First up, you’re going to be working flat from now on, so make sure you’re referring to the correct mesh stitch instructions.
• Second, you’re going to start creating that super fun V of garter stitch across the shoulders. This is done by working one more stitch on each side of the V in garter each row. Make sure you keep track of that V in whatever way makes the most sense to you. You can use stitch markers, write down the stitches in each section, or even do it by eye alone (if you’re SUPER good at reading your knitting).
• Once you get through that garter stitch V, you’ll be creating the pleat. You can check out this photo tutorial from Classic Elite to see some images of how your pleats will look while you’re working them. All that stitch folding might get confusing! 
• And then finally, to end off this week, there’s the Back Neck Short Rows. By now you’re a total Beach House short row pro, so these puppies should be old hat!

Indie Designer Day

Designer: Valentina Strokina
Blog: Danale. Knitwear.
Rav ID: ValentinaS
Some Great Designs: ValentinaS' Rav Designer Page

A gentle, quiet grace infuses all of Valenina's designs.

Fragrance of Meadows (pictured) is her most recent pattern and one of my favourites. A seamless, top-down garment using the contiguous method, this piece is one that is great for the warm weather and also fab for the cooler temperatures. Just imagine layering it over a tee or longer sleeved shirt! Vests are way in for the fall.

Wings has a wonderfully graceful drape and simple shape. I love that the pattern comes with three options for neck and armhole finishing and is a seamless knit.

Finally I wanted to show you Senoir Angler. This design has a fantastic use of simple knit purl textures to create an interested, cozy looking finished sweater.

FYI: Valentina currently has a summer sale for 40% off patterns in her Ravelry shop. It's on until the end of August!

Crafty Cuban Vacay

You'd have to know that no matter where I go, what vacation takes me away, I'd absolutely be crafting!
I've just returned from a week's vacation in Cuba. So hot, so beautiful, and so perfect for wearing new handmades as well as working on even newer ones!

I made a couple of pairs of Purl Bee Gym Shorts before I went.

I also paired my second pair of new gym shorts with my even newer sample of Beach House!

I was also busy stitching away on my Kiriki Press embroidery.

I met a dolphin. No biggie! :)

And I got up to a bunch of new knitting! See a peek here. I'll be publishing this new pattern next year.

Hope you're having a great summer too!

Great Northern: The Log Lady

The Log Lady. She's likely to be on many Twin Peaks fans' favourite character list.
This character is a woman named after her unusual quirk. Well, she does have a real name, but does anyone know her by Margaret Lanterman? Nope. It's the Log Lady.

My log has something to tell you.

Her log acts as a tool for her clairvoyance. Her log "sees" things, and holds secrets about the events in Twin Peaks. She is a channel for the knowledge accessed from the log. She doesn't interpret, only repeats. She has a fascinating back story, and is indeed recognized by some people in the town for her spiritual abilities.

I was always glad to see her appear on screen. She'd always either have some intriguing clue, or a ridiculousness of some sort that I thought was funny.

I do not introduce the log. Can you hear it?

Or, in fact, she would have some sort of fantastic knitwear on. She's great for knit-watching. In fact, she appears multiple times on this list of the top 118 sweaters shown on Twin Peaks. She's so captivating, in fact, that she's inspired TWO sweaters for the Great Northern collection. Leah and I are both totally into our own Log Lady sweaters.

Want to make this book a reality? Please back our Kickstarter and keep up to date with our newsletter!

Beach House KAL: Week 2

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For this second week, let’s aim to get the Body completed.

Compared to all those short rows last week, this week’s instructions are a breeze! You’re just going to maintain the stitches you have on the needle for the length indicated.

MODIFICATION NOTE 

If you want to add/subtract length from your Beach House, this would be an ideal place to do it. Beach House’s length is calculated based on your back waist length measurement. You can see the CYCchart used to guide the sizing here, and see if this length is one that you’ll be happy with for your own Beach House.

Indie Designer Day

© ElenaMadsenDesigns

Designer: Elena Madsen
Rav ID: haekleri
Some Great Designs: haekleri's Rav Designer Page

Make way for crochet! I love this designer's work. Check out three of my favourites:

Her most recently designed piece is Peplum Shell Symphonie (pictured). I love how this piece is designed in pieces so that you can easily alter it to suit your tastes. Just taking a quick peek at some of the FOs shows you that it can be strapless, have capped sleeves, a blousy waist, a fitted waist, and oh my! That peplum! I love it. Seems like the perfect little piece for the beach.

As you all know I'm generally a fan of the bold and unusual. Or at least, the statement-making. And how better to make a statement than with that staple of the boldly fashionable lady's wardrobe, the poncho. Warm November is a wee crocheted poncho, one that works up quickly and is easy to follow.

Lastly, check out these sweet little One Moment Slippers. They look cozy, comfortable, and totally cute.

Check out her IG feed and hop on over to her FB page!

Great Northern: Design Profile #3

I'll be talking a bit more about why I like Maddy's character in a few weeks. But for now, I wanted to share with you all a little bit about the design I've drawn from her wardrobe for Great Northern.

One of my major goals in creating this collection was to give Twin Peaks fans, and even knitters who weren't (aren't yet??) Twin Peaks fans, items that they would be excited to knit and wear.
I know there's nearly nothing that gets me more excited in the knit world than a design that balances boldness and wearability.

In the image above you see Maddy, in her sneakiest of sneaky outfits, sneaking out of the Palmer's house to do some sleuthing. You've gotta know that fabulous fringed delight around her shoulders caught my eye.

 

From this scene I immediately knew I wanted to create something spunky, fun, and fringed. Something that draws on the spirit of Maddy, with youthful energy and a bold element or two, but that's balanced with equal counts of the subdued to achieve something attractive and wearable. Enter the asymmetric, textural, fringed, mini poncho!

With strong elements like that, I wanted to balance them out with a soft, neutral-coloured yarn. Something that would add to the interesting texture without overwhelming it; something that would look fantastic in fringe, and something that would complement any number of outfits you'd style it with.

Enter Knits in Class and her fabulous hand-dyed bulky twist yarn. MAN, look at the twist on that! It's such a lovely, gentle colour. Something I can absolutely see Maddy wearing on her sneakiest of sneaky sneaks out of the Palmer's home.

The Kickstarter is coming soon! Let us tell you when it launches by signing up for the newsletter.

Beach House KAL: Week 1

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Let’s kick off this KAL!

Beach House is a multi-technique pattern, but it’s still a really quick knit.

Worked up on larger-than-average needles, you end up with a fabric that (especially after blocking!) is super light and airy.

To help you keep on track, there’ll be a new post published every week, giving you a goal to aim for and some helpful hints.

For this first week, let’s aim to get the Bottom Edge Short Rows completed.

Already you can see from the name of the section we’re completing here, it’s short rows!

TIPS

• If you’ve never worked short rows before, there is an excellent tutorial in the Summer 2015 issue of Holla Knits (yes! The one Beach House is in!). Otherwise, there are plenty of resources you can consult, including this video tutorial from Knit Picks.
• You may also find the mesh repeats a bit unusual: They do indeed begin the first row with a YO. But I promise, it’ll work out in the end!
• And it may be helpful to note: when working the first few instructions, they read as “Work Row 1 of Mesh Stitch Flat, work next…..” If that line is confusing to you at all, try reading it as “WorkING Row 1 of mesh Stitch Flat, work next….”

Happy knitting everyone!

Here you see my own Beach House at the end of the Bottom Edge Short Rows Section

Indie Designer Day

Designer: Ursa Major Knits
Rav ID: Crizzy
Some Great Designs: Crizzy's Rav Designer Page

This week's designer first caught my eye because of the beautifully bold way she uses colour and shape.
See for yourself in these three designs:

Her most recent design is Lady Liberty (pictured). Scarves/shawls are one of Crizzy's strengths, and this design is a great example of how she creates incredible dynamism using yarn colour and shape. I especially love how the unusual shape drapes in unexpected ways. Just scroll through the pattern photos on the Rav page.

Second, I wanted to show you another of her scarf/shawl designs, New York Beauty. Totally beauty! Look at how fantastically she's utilized a self-striping yarn to create undulating shape in an otherwise simple accessory.

Finally, here's a great display of her design sensibility directed at socks. These might be some of the most interesting socks I've ever seen: Venetian Joker shows that trademark use of shape and colour that Crizzy is so good at. Just check out those cuffs! It even comes with 7 pages of photo tutorials, and bottom up as well as top down instructions. Rad!

ETA:
Want to win a copy of Lady Liberty? Just leave a comment here letting me know either your email address or Ravelry id.
Winner will be chosen August 20.

Beach House KAL: The Materials

Hi everyone!
Are you keen to participate in the Beach House KAL?
Not only will you get a fabulous knit at the end of it, there's also the chance to win prizes!

The KAL officially starts on Monday, but I wanted to share with you information on the materials you'll need to complete this knit.

Materials

DK weight yarn: the two samples in the pattern are done in radically different fibres, which shows that you have options! You can have a wool-based yarn or a cotton/linen one. Because this patterns doesn’t call for much yarn (at least, as far as tops go!) you can likely even use a precious skein or two!

Size 8 / 5 mm circular needles (at least 16”): As always, if these needles don’t get you gauge then find ones that do!

Notions including stitch markers, stitch holders OR scrap yarn, 2 spare DPNs, and a tapestry needle. Those spare DPNS are for creating the pleats, and those stitch holders OR scrap yarn are for the stitches you’ll place on hold and return to later.

To Do

PLEASE, if you ever do a gauge swatch, do it for this pattern. It relies heavily on a very aggressive blocking so that the mesh opens up and drapes nicely. If you do not block, you run a very high risk of ending up with a top that is ill fitting, and does not look like any of the pattern photos.

Holla Knits Mini Collection Competition!

 

I'm excited to announce that I'm taking part in the cool new competition over on Holla Knits.

8 designers enter: only 2 are victorious!

This is a competition where 8 designers have created proposals that YOU get to vote on.
Two of these proposals will be produced in the Spring Holla Knits issue.

Cool idea, eh?

So if you hop over to this link you can see all 8 designer's proposals.
For this, the first round (from Aug 3-13) you can vote as many times as you like (but only once per day).
BUT...
You don't know what designer has proposed what designs!

Can you guess which is mine?
I can't tell you!

But please vote!

Great Northern: Best Twin Peaks Links

Twin Peaks is all over the internet. Lots of great sites to visit. Here I've listed my top four faves.
Think a list of top 4 is weird? Well, I'm embracing the weird here.

#1 Buzzfeed: Which Twin Peaks character are you?
Oh, who doesn't love a Buzzfeed quiz? It's all in good (very dark) fun. Especially if you get the result I got: BOB. Uh oh.

#2 Rolling Stone: 30 Best Twin Peaks Characters
I like this simple breakdown of characters.  Reminds me how packed this show was with rich storyline and fascinating personalities (some likened the show's narratives and pace to soap operas, which was, I'm sure, not an accidental likeness on Lynch's part).

#3 In Twin Peaks

This site will help you find locations where the series was filmed in Washington state and California. It's got great photo summaries of each episode, and an extensive links list. Talented knitwear designer Lee Meredith used it as a guide for her own Washington Twin Peaks excursion. Check out this post on her blog for beautiful photos and great details.

#4 Welcome to Twin Peaks
This site is a little meatier than the others I've listed. Here's what they have to say on their About page:

Inspired by the show’s ever-growing influence on today’s art, fashion, music, film, television, design or just about any other aspect of popular culture, Welcome to Twin Peaks aims to demonstrate that even though more than two decades have passed, Twin Peaks is still relevant.

I particularly like the fun stuff he's got under "inspiration", which includes a golden girls/twin peaks mash up and a video of the intro recreated entirely with paper.
This is the first place I go when I want to find Twin Peaks info, from the fun, esoteric, factual, and unusual.