July/August Color Knitting Links

Lately I've really been impressed with all the great new free colorwork knitting patterns available so I'm focusing on them this month.

FREE PATTERNS

Another wonderful free pattern from Leslie Comstock (of Pisqu fame) are these adorable Cowasocky Socks using intarsia in the round featuring individually knit toes.

Donna Druchunas offers the Bosnian Slipper Socks in the current Knitty. Some of the pattern uses 3-color rows.

Here is a PDF for some great stranded mittens with my favorite dancing people on the cuff. The pattern is in Swedish but the pattern can be worked with just the charts.

Penguin lovers will enjoy this cute hat, Penguins Galore.

The Medal of Honor Wallpaper Socks are inspired by a video game. They have a Nordic feel to me.

If you are a fan of the Dale of Norway ski sweaters, check out this Drops men's sweater pattern.

The Assassin's Creed socks, knit in Palette, are also inspired by a video game. I like the pattern on the sole of the foot.

The Twelve Months of Christmas is a traditional Fair Isle vest pattern.

The Swirlette Cowl is a good use of a yarn with longer color changes like Noro.

I'm planning on making the Butterflies are Free Sock pattern by Rose Hiver very soon. They feature a picot hem and are knit cuff-down.

Here's a cute raglan sweater for kids, Dance of the Robots.

The Dogwoods Socks feature corrugated ribbing and a color pattern that reminds me of those fluffy pods that drift off of cottonwood trees.

The Into the Labyrinth Fingerless Mitts are based on a movie and are a good choice for more experienced color knitters.

Here is a PDF pattern for a Fair Isle Hat using Cascade 220 sport that looks like an ideal choice for a new color knitter.

Susanne Chotty's Flower Power Socks are a good choice for a variegated/solid yarn mix.

These cool Zigzag Gloves feature both stranded knitting and twined knitting for those up for a challenge.

KITS

Virtual Yarns has four new upcoming kits we can look forward to - two sweaters and two scarves.

The newest kit from Renaissance Dyeing are these colorful Land Girl Socks.

YOUTUBE

I haven't had a chance to watch all of this but the Handknitting a Glove video sounds extremely helpful to new glove knitters.

Here is a video on Knitting the Index Finger on a glove.

OTHER

Here's a great online tool to make your own color charts.

The Shades of Shetland blog offers a few suggestions for patterns for first-time color knitters.

Do you have ugly SSKs? HERE is a great message thread from Sock Knitter's Anonymous with tips on improving them. I'm currently trying the technique of putting the left hand needle into the two slipped stitches from the right side on a pair of socks.

Here is a good link to all sorts of exercises to help with repetitive stress injuries.

Pantone has announced the Fall 2011 Color Trends - I like most of them this time.

I'm not the only one in this house looking forward to fall!

June Color Knitting Links

There are some good links today! I am just waiting for a photo session but I will have a free pattern for stranded fingerless mitts available for you next.

FREE PATTERNS

This incredible complex sock pattern from Sock Madness 5 designed by Leslie Comstock is going to be released free very soon. I am haunting the project page because I absolutely have to knit the Pisqu socks as soon as possible! I love that the gusset decreases are under the heel.

Rigmor offers these classic Selbu Mittens - I like that they are knit in DK weight yarn and plan to make them soon.

The Vector Mittens by Jennifer Thompson come in multiple sizes and offer variations for top shaping along with a fingerless mitt option. They are knit in Palette.

Kamilla offers a great free tutorial on how to knit a stranded top for your high-top sneakers.

Ruskin on Ravelry has been busy designing tam patterns: Sunset Over Loch Broom, the Greenvoe Fair Isle Tam, and Colour Your Own Fair Isle Tam where you can insert your favorite charts.

Cascade Yarns is offering this free pattern for a hooded coat. I wish I could see a better photo because I would definitely consider knitting it. I hope someone knits it soon so I can make a decision.

If you have a bunch of sock yarn odds and ends, knit yourself some handy Luggage Finders.

Roald Wench's Dala Selu Hybrid Mittens feature a horse and a ribbed cuff.

PATTERNS FOR SALE

Susan Crawford's booklet, Vintage Gifts to Knit, offers some lovely and feminine stranded projects.

I'm pretty sure I've never linked to a pattern for stranded adult pants before! The Wool Poker Dot Pants come in one size and use size 5 (US) needles.

Amanda Carrigan's Snowflake Gloves are knit in fingering weight yarn and feature corrugated ribbing and lots of snowflakes.

EYE CANDY

Check out this afghan from Woolly Thoughts! I love this idea - you simply pick 10 colors and then do squares of two of the ten colors mixed together. So ten colors look like fifty five colors! I may have to use this idea for something.

Here are some gorgeous Russian socks that apparently also protect you from bad luck. If you are familiar with Turkish sock construction you can grab the free charts from a Russian blog (link at the Rav page).

I love TonyD's Spinner's Hill Waistcoat. Apparently he also spindle spun all the yarn as well.

Check out Soxnsox's mind-boggling rainbow version of the Thistle Shawl for our Stranded Forum KAL. It very much deserved to win First in  its Class at Maryland Sheep and Wool. I love that she knit  "Soxnsox 2011" in the border!

Westgate knit some beautiful Turkish socks in brilliant blues. I just love, love, love the colors.

Aztoni knit this lizard sweater inspired by M.C. Escher. You can PM her if you'd like the charts.

BOOKS

Sasha Kagan's Classic Collection, due in September, promises to have intarsia and stranded sweater designs along with essays about hand knit fashion through the years. I wish I could see more of the designs! Her web site also sells kits for nature-inspired intarsia sweaters.

I'm going to pre-order Sock Knitting Master Class which looks to have some great stranded patterns from many accomplished designers and will be released next month. Also, Knitting Socks Around the World, available in August, looks promising.

MISCELLANEOUS

Want free yarn? YarnOnTheHouse offers regular free giveaways of yarn and patterns.

Has anyone tried the Knit Picks' Teleidoscope? Apparently it helps you make color choices by peering at your yarns through it. I should really just buy one and try it as it is only $2.99.

In this post, Mary Ann of Two Strands offers to kit up any of her old Dale of Norway sweater patterns for you. Dale is offering the old patterns for free so no more being sad about long lost patterns.

On Blarter you can offer your handmade items as barter for other handmade stuff. Check it out!

YOUTUBE

Learn to massage your own hands with this video from Veria TV.

From MamachaUK, here is an interesting video where you can see a traditional chullo being knit. I love how all the extra unused colors are made into little butterflies for more mobile knitting.

Here's a fun video showing double knitting four colors per row - not exactly the speediest technique with all that back and forth of the four yarns. I was wondering how often all the yarns would needed to be untangled in this method.

May Color Knitting Links

Things are slowing down in the knitting world as they do this time every year so I'll just do one color knitting link post a month until fall.

FREE PATTERNS

Hanne Magnussen designed this pretty raglan sweater, Long Faroese Sweater, using naturally colored yarns.

Patti Henry's Dots and Stripes Purse uses many colors of DK weight yarn.

HERE is a free pattern for a mosaic hat from Cascade using Aran weight yarn.

Knitting Iceland offers this free pattern for Beta's Mittens. The mittens themselves are knit in one color but the design comes from a second color that is cross-stitched on the front.

The Houndstooth Beanie and Mitts use a combo of Cascade Heritage solids and paints.

PATTERNS FOR SALE

I'm in Janel Laidman's Illuminations Colorwork Sock Club and I just wanted to shout out her newest Granada pattern. I'm glad I just signed up for the patterns only version of the club because my eyes have trouble distinguishing the pattern with the two multi-colored yarns used. Anyway, I look forward to making these striking socks inspired by Moorish architecture in two solid colored yarns. There are lots of really long floats but they'll be worth it.

Lisa Ellis' Russian Winter Hat and Purse use two colors of fingering weight yarn. I really love the two color ribbing design on the hat.

Isabelle Allard has two new pretty stranded sock patterns Bas Symetriques #1 and Bas Symetriques #2. I really like them both although I'm currently leaning toward #1.

VIDEOS

Kerin of Knit Picks has released a very helpful video on intarsia knitting - check it out if you find intarsia difficult.

Clothed in the Lamb offers this interesting video on reversible intarsia which I have to try. I didn't watch the whole thing but it looks like it is done with K1, P1 ribbing. Their beautiful Second Spring scarf pattern uses the technique.

BOOKS

Looks like Nancy Bush is releasing an updated edition of Folk Socks next January. It doesn't look like there are any new patterns (darn!) but the yarn selection is updated and it looks like there is some additional technique info.

Speaking of Nancy Bush, the book I'm most anxiously awaiting is Knitting Socks Around the World which comes out in July and has patterns from Nancy and many other great sock designers.

Check out Scandinavian Folklore which is full of gorgeous color photos of traditional costumes. From looking at this page it appears to be partially in English. Thanks to Chery for the heads up on this book!

NeedleArtsBookShop is selling a Japanese knitting book on colorwork - Fair Isle Knitting which has some gorgeous sweaters.

KITS

Rare Rowan Yarns claims to have the largest selection of discontinued Rowan yarns and kits. They're pricey but it is nice to know you can still buy a Kaffe Fassett yarn kit for many of his designs.

MISCELLANEOUS

Looks like yarn and kit prices at Virtual Yarns have increased. I guess I shouldn't have waited so long to buy this hat kit. I think I'll ask DH to get it for my birthday in July.

HERE is an interesting post on using conductive thread to make knit items than can be used with touchpad screens. Since I have perpetually cold hands, I'm going to have to check this stuff out so I can read my nook while wearing gloves.

HERE is a quick how-to post on making your own glove blockers.

Bubbles hopes everyone has time to stop and smell the flowers today.

Color Knitting Links for Early April

I hope you don't mind some photos of Santa Fe to go with the links today. Above is the Loretto Inn which I photograph pretty much every time I'm in the City Different.

EASTER

HERE is a link to the Drops 2011 Easter Calendar. They say they aren't going to duplicate any of the free patterns from last year's Easter Calendar and so far it looks like they have a pair of stranded bunny socks and a stranded bunny potholder pattern.

Jean Greenhowe has some free patterns on her web site HERE including some for Novelty Eggs (scroll down).

What a cute idea - HERE is a scarf made of garter stitch marshmallow bunnies.

I think these knitted Easter chicks are really cute.

My knitted bunny finger puppets are a fast knit and a good addition to an Easter basket.

FREE PATTERNS

Melissa Leapman's gorgeous Tonal Fair Isle Jacket uses I think 3 colors of Cascade 220.

The Norrsunda Bladkrans mitten pattern with an open wreath Swedish motif also includes a matching hat.

The fun Jellyfish Fingerless Mitts pattern uses two colors of Palette.

This striking Mudcloth Inspired Afghan from Lion Brand is knit in one piece with a seed stitch border in two colors of worsted weight yarn.

PATTERNS FOR SALE

The Norwegian Baby Tyra sweater pattern from this Etsy shop is so adorable. Also check out their Folklore Mitten Kit.

Check out Elizabeth Lovick's March of the Fibres Sweater pattern on Etsy. I see bunnies and sheep and camels and goats and alpacas, oh my.

Anne's Flower Hat by Wenche Roald uses two colors of fingering weight yarn and has a picot hem. You can also knit matching mittens.

EBOOKS

If you purchase the Dale of Norway Book 219 ebook for knitted accessories for $10, you can get a $10 voucher for yarn or books.

If you enjoy entrelac, check out Anne Gilmour's Happy Trail's Entrelac Sock Book. You get five patterns for $8.

INTARSIA

Knit Picks is now offering several intarsia tote kits HERE. I think Harbor Lights is my fave.

Check out the Verdant Wrap in the new Knitty. It uses a different intarsia method - I didn't read it thoroughly but it looks like the background color was knit along with the leaf color and then just the leaf color was done in intarsia?

EYE CANDY

Read through this whole thread from the Russian Color Knitting forum on Ravelry for some incredible photos of current and historical Russian stranded knits.

Swoon! Rainbow Toe-Up Entrelac Socks with an entrelac heel even - these are quite spectacular.

I really like Craftivore's Manly Man Hat for her DH with the large head and especially that she states the size is "Pumpkin 23 inches".

Check out Katri63's Swatch Blanket that uses Kaffe Fassett's patterns and her own hand-dyed yarn.

Another great idea! Mrspetersson used the multi-directional scarf pattern and Kauni yarn to make this beautiful Rainbow Blanket.

Jenannbec made a cute Checkerboard baby sweater to match my Checkerboard Mesa hat pattern.

MISCELLANEOUS

HERE are instructions for making your own glove or mitten blockers using just rubber gloves and rice! I've linked to this one before but HERE is another mitten blocker you can easily make from the Kathryn Ivy web site.

I'm getting inspired to knit some knee highs and I thought these Knee High Sock Blockers on Etsy would be helpful.

If you are interested in getting serious about color, Color Wheel Pro has a free download of their software so you can play around with color schemes.

This is  pretty fun - the Random Stripe Generator from Biscuits and Jam. Just pick your colors and your stripe widths and you can see how they'll look.

I'm greatly enjoying the extra knitting time that comes with the advent of baseball season (even if all my favorite teams are currently losing). I hope to have two new pairs of colorful socks to show you by this weekend.

Color Links and Color Cards

BOOKS

Good news! According to this message thread it sounds like Alice Starmore intends to re-release her Charts for Colour Knitting later this year and will re-release Tudor Roses next year.

This Amazon book, Knit Your Own Royal Wedding, cracks me up. I like the Queen and the Corgis the best.


Norwegian Knitting Designs by Annichen Sibbern Bohn is being reprinted - I really like the socks shown on the Look Inside preview.
 
Fair Isling on Blue Moon includes 3 pairs of socks and one pair of mittens using Blue Moon Fiber Arts beautiful multi-colored yarns. You can also buy the kits separately HERE.

FREE PATTERNS

I've mentioned this pattern before but since Easter will be here soon, check out these cute Easter socks from Drops. They also have an Easter themed potholder you can knit HERE.

If you love corrugated ribbing as much as I do, check out this cute Brand New Corrugated Pillbox hat.

The Vanamo Fingerless Mitts use DK weight yarn and the pattern is available in English and Finnish.

The adorable stranded toddler pullover Pondemonium features everything you'd find in a pond.

Check out these hilarious Das Monster baby longies.

Knit some pretty Easter Eggs from Little Cotton Rabbits.

The Ingela Mittens use peace symbols and many colors of sport weight yarn.

PATTERNS FOR SALE

If you love NY, the Empire State Gloves may be for you. I love how the pattern says they fit one size - women's dainty.

The Inspired by Bohus Stickning Scarf uses worsted weight Chroma for the color changes.

Kristin Spurkland's striking Greenland Hat uses Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift yarn.

The New Zealand Tiki Mittens by Genny Stevens have a design based on Maori mythology and use fingering weight yarn.  

Angie Easterday's Andean Style Hat - Chullo can be made with or without the earflaps.

Torirot's Pepperkakevotter mitten pattern comes with charts for squirrel, hedgehog, camel, reindeer, cat, lamb, snail and pig designs and you can also decide whether you prefer a peasant or sore thumb.

I may have to make the Trampled Rose Fingerless Mitts by Beverly Mazzarella.

KALs

The Rosemarkie Vest KAL (from Celtic Collection) starts today and is a good pattern for beginners as it uses only 6 colors and one chart.

On March 25 the Fair Isle Tote Kal begins and it  also looks to be a great way to learn stranded color knitting.

MISCELLANEOUS

Interweave is selling a video download, A Knitter's Guide to Color with Laura Bryant. There is a free preview on Youtube HERE.

HERE are instructions on how to make your own knitting needle case.

Knit Picks has a Youtube video HERE on color selection for multi-color knitting using Palette.



Speaking of Palette, here are the homemade color cards I ordered. It really is interesting how different some of the colors look in person compared to the photos on their web site. Thanks to Mary (fiberfanatic1 on Ravelry) for taking on such a project. If you want color cards of your own, keep an eye on the Knit Picks' Lovers forum on Ravelry for announcements of the next co-op. I think they're also doing one for Wool of the Andes.

Also, if you need color cards for Virtual Yarns, check THIS message thread to see how to sign up with a Raveler who is making them. I don't need them because I was lucky enough to receive these back when they gave away their own color cards.

Jan/Feb Color Knitting Links

I completely spaced the January Color Knitting Links so I'm combining January and February for one huge list. I promise to try to keep the links to a more manageable size in the future.

FREE PATTERNS

The Peony Handwarmers include a feather and fan type cuff and are knit in DK weight yarn.

The mosaic Burntwater Socks use one solid and one multicolored sock yarn.

The My Rose Red hat by Christi Wasson uses two colors of worsted weight yarn and might be a perfect gift for a special Valentine.

The I Love Someone with Autism Beret uses three colors of Paton's Classic Wool.

This Drops baby sweater pattern has a rabbit motif and it even includes matching trousers and socks.

Maria Leigh's wild and crazy Brickwork socks use one solid and one variegated yarn for an eye-catching result. I may have to make these.

The Colorwork Turtleneck Sweater from Better Homes and Gardens uses worsted weight yarn and is a good choice for a beginning color knitter.

Bernat has this Yoke Sweaters for the Whole Family pattern available. The sweaters feature turtlenecks and should be quick to knit in bulky weight yarn. 

HERE are some free patterns for Icelandic sweaters and a few hats using thick Lopi yarn.

The Helsingland Toddler mittens are a quick knit in Aran weight yarn and feature a flared cuff.

PATTERNS FOR SALE

I still have post-traumatic stress syndrome from having to read Beowulf in college but the rest of you might love these incredible Hwaet socks from Sanguine Gryphon which use some of the text from the first page of the manuscript. I love the yarns used for this project.

Barbara Gregory's Dragon Paws use fingering weight to make a great fingering weight mitten for dragon lovers of all ages.

Lynn DT Hershberger of Color Joy offers these colorful Keys and Coins Andean Style Hats with Optional Ear Flaps through Patternfish. The hats use a self-striping yarn along with a solid and are a good choice for a beginning color knitter.

Kirsten Jensen's Sant'Angelo Sweater is a gorgeous pattern knit in sport weight yarn. I love the flared cuffs.

If you love corrugated ribbing as much as I do, check out Lucy Neatby's Sizzling Hot Hat. It is double knit using sock yarn.

Rebecca Blair's elaborate and intricate Guardian Gloves use 3 colors a row and duplicate stitch in Palette yarn. Check them out to see how magnificent a stranded design can look when you add extra colors to each row.

Mary Jane Mucklestone's Halcyon Hat uses 6 colors of fingering weight yarn and looks like a good pattern for beginners.

Elinor Brown's Forest Mushroom Mittens use lots of my beloved braids with some simple color designs in 3 colors of sport weight yarn.

TECHNIQUES/REFERENCE

Tips and Techniques: Color Dominance in Stranded Knitting has a good photo showing a pair of geometric mittens with the dominant color switched on the second mitten.

Here's a PDF form you can fill out to keep track of which colors of Palette you have. Speaking of Palette, here's a great photo on Flickr of the Palette colors with names and numbers in grayscale so you can get a better idea of the contrast between colors.

I've been working on updating the group pages for the Stranded forum on Ravelry. Check it out especially the recommended Color Knitting Books list, Wool Yarns Recommended for Colorwork, Other Yarns Recommended for Colorwork, and Cast On and Bind Off Techniques.

There is a good thread HERE in the Xtreme Fair Isle Knitting group on Ravelry on Knitting with Older Eyes. My personal favorite suggestion from a fellow mod on the Stranded forum - put a white towel on your lap to help see your knitting better.

Another good Rav thread is this one on how to break out of color ruts in the Color Coordinated forum.

OTHER

Laura is giving away a free copy of her book about intarsia, Picture Perfect Knits. Just comment on her blog by tomorrow at 3 pm Pacific time to enter.

Sam from Lakeland is the chullo queen of Ravelry. Check out her project page for photos of dozens of gorgeous chullos.

Looks like Bea Ellis is selling off her inventory on Ebay HERE. Check it out if you're seeking any Dale of Norway patterns or yarn.

Need a new knitting notebook? You can't do much better than this cool Fair Isle notebook with a stranded wool cover from the Shetland museum.

Loopyworks' Fitted Jacket with Embroidery is a work of art. I'd make this myself but I doubt I'd ever wear it.

One of my favorite color knitting inspirations is MariannAn on Ravelry. Check out her mind-boggling Leaving for Miklagaard at Sunset socks. She used the Sandnes free Viking Ship pattern for some of the colorwork. Also check out her Tudor Roses socks using the Starmore Henry VIII pattern for inspiration.

Another Ravelry FO I love is Jenniferaf's Bohus Blue Shimmer Hat.

Here is a Chicago Tribune article on how traditional Fair Isle designs are inspiring today's fashions.

Beckyzzz's beautiful A.S. Inspired Sweater used colors from one of her mom's paintings.

Here's a good message thread about Jamieson and Smith raising the price of their Shetland yarns and the future for this industry.

I'm planning on trying out some new needles soon. First I'm going to get a pair of the 5" Kollage square double pointed needles for gloves and I also want to try some of the new 9" circular needles for mittens and socks. Has anyone tried either of these needles for colorwork?

EVENTS 

We're starting a KAL on Ravelry's Stranded Forum for the Undergrowth Hat in the current issue of Knitty on the Stranded forum on February 15th. It uses two colors of sport weight yarn.

Our Glove Knitter's forum is doing a Stranded Gloves KAL. It starts March 1 and goes for two months and even includes prizes. I think I'm going to do the Red Bud Gloves by Alexis Winslow.

Knit Picks is holding an ongoing Colorwork KAL with reference info and links to some of their colorwork patterns.

SpillyJane is holding a contest. If you knit her free pattern for Camilla patterns (PDF here) and send her a photo before the end of February, she'll send you any of her patterns you choose.

February is Stephanie van der Linden month on Sock Knitter's Anonymous. Cast on any of her sock patterns in February and you have until the end of March to finish. There are lots of great prizes for some of the lucky competitors. 

A Few September Links for Color Knitters

I'm still terribly behind on work - I'm already a week behind on my hat for Knit Picks. I am not able to attend Taos Wool Festival this weekend so I hope those of you attending will have extra fun for me.

I do have a few links for you and I hope to be back to normal soon. I have a ton of stuff I want to post about dealing with floats in stranded color knitting. Plus I have several new books to review.

LINKS FOR COLOR KNITTERS

I absolutely love Lorraine Condotta's  Scare Isle tam in the new Knitty with ghosts and spiders.

Some charts and German instructions for a beautiful sweater - the design reminds me a bit of Dale of Norway's Kashmir sweater.

Here's another blank mitten chart you can print out for making your own color design. This one comes in three sizes and is for fingering weight yarns.

Has anyone ordered Colorwork Creations: 30+ Patterns to Knit Gorgeous Hats, Mittens and Gloves by Susan Anderson-Freed? I think I am going to wait for the Kindle version. (The photos won't be in color on the Kindle but they should be if I transfer the book to my PC using the Kindle for PC software.)

Another new stranded book I'm going to order is Kathleen Taylor's Fearless Fair Isle Knitting. Amazon doesn't give a date though.

I did two quick surveys on Ravelry that are proving interesting. How do you hold the yarns in stranded color knitting? and How do you deal with floats in stranded color knitting? Be sure to read the comments in the floats survey - there is some interesting stuff there.

Knit Picks has a new kit, the Falling Stars kit, for a Bohus inspired sweater and hat, and it is under $35.


Well back to the grindstone!

August Links for Color Knitters

I saw this colorful Churro yarn at the Santa Fe Farmer's Market last week.


COLOR KNITTING LINKS


Here are a few more links for you. I am taking next week off from blogging but I should be back after that with some sort of FO.


The 3rd Annual Nordic Knitting Conference takes place October 15-17 at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle. Instructors include Nancy Bush, Beth Brown-Reinsel and Evelyn Clark. Be still my heart!


I'm completely in love with the adorable bunny mittens on this page and want to make them soon. I think the way it works is that you order the pattern and then print it in a limited period of time. I don't have a printer so I'll have to convince DH to do it at work.


The kit for the Knit Picks Chullo hat has returned in two colorways of Palette. I really like the jewel but I am going to order the earth tones since that is what DH requested. Supposedly you can manage 3 or 4 hats with the yarn making this quite the bargain at $17.99.


Looks like Drops has a new multicolored yarn out called Delight. They have a few new free stranded patterns using it with a solid color - Delight Mittens, Delight Socks, and Delight Mittens w/Dancing People on the cuff.


Speaking of mittens, we just started a Mitten KAL on the Stranded Forum on Ravelry. You can knit any mitten or fingerless mitt pattern as long as it has some colorwork so come join us!


And on Sept. 15th we're starting a Glove KAL on the Glove Knitting Forum on Ravelry. This is a perfect opportunity to finish a pair of gloves for a holiday gift.


HERE is a new book out with intarsia cat designs and lots of info on different cat breeds.


And for the dogs, a Fair Isle Dog Bed Kit from Jimmy Beans Wool.

August Color Knitting Links

An eagle-eyed knitter on the Dale of Norway Ravelry group noticed that in the Norwegian Patterns for Knitting book by Mette N. Handberg some of the color charts extend over the center page fold. I'm not sure if you would be able to xerox the charts or even read them accurately without breaking the spine of the book. I've encountered some Dale booklets w/really large charts over 2 pages but the Dale booklets are easier to just dismantle to copy the charts properly. It looks like four of the charts in the book extend over the center page fold. I'll edit the original review to include that info.

COLOR KNITTING LINKS

Lizbeth Upitis (author of the Latvian Mittens book) will be moderating a Latvian Mitten KAL on Ravelry. I believe it starts tomorrow and you need to sign in HERE. I wish I could join but I cannot add another thing on the needles right now.

Yarns International is featuring some sweater kits from Ron Schweitzer's new Shetland Lighthouses collection. There's also a slideshow of the lighthouses that inspired his designs.


According to Janel Laidman's blog, she is starting a colorwork sock of the month group. Registration for the club starts today.

Whenever I feel wanderlust, I go to the Alpine Adventure Agency's 2010 Fiber Workshop schedule? Knitting watching the boats at Portofino? Or perhaps a winter vacation in the Tyrolean Alps? I could definitely handle it. The photos are spectacular. Their Ravelry page is HERE.

It isn't too early to start thinking about your Christmas knitting! Here are some fun free Christmas stocking patterns (PDF) using Cascade 220.

The Dale of Norway Peace Sweater is on sale now at Zappo's - from $372 down to $181. I really wish they'd release the knitting pattern!


Here is a Ravelry photo of Lucy Neatby's Paradoxical Mittens. The knitter says she switched up how she held the yarns for each mitten to make them even more paradoxical and it shows off the whole yarn dominance thing quite well. I love the knitter's choice of black and white with a peek of red for the pattern.

Don't you need to build yourself a yarn playpen so you can dream about color combinations? Janine the Feral Knitter offers instructions.

The first issue of Knitting Iceland is offering this free pattern for the lovely Freyja cardigan using Lopi unspun.

Pam Allen has started her own wool yarn line from US sources, Quince and Co., and each weight offers a good selection of colors for colorwork. Tern is the sock yarn and those colors aren't up on the web site yet.

I'm debating buying this Kilim Sock kit from Renaissance Dyeing - they are outrageously beautiful but we're talking 3 colors a row throughout. Hmmmm. Perhaps I should get the Roman de la Rose kit instead - a lot more colors but only 2 colors a row as far as I can tell.

Because I've been chained to the computer this week, I chose a wonderful free pattern for Log Cabin Dishcloths to work on while staring at the monitor. They are seriously addictive; I've knit two more since I took this photo.The pink and green yarns are Lion Brand Bamboo (splitty but beautiful) and the purples are Knitpicks Shine. Speaking of Log Cabin knitting designs, check out Janine's beautiful Parcheesi Afghan (the pattern is also free) in over 30 different colors of Shetland jumper weight yarn.

Every time I go to our library branch, I want to bring this wonderful jade plant home with me. I'll bet it is older than the library building.