The colors are soft, and almost frosted...
Enjoy your walk on the beach...
The Sea Glass Collection is Ready!
This week's SockPixie Sea Glass Collection is ready!
The colors are soft, and almost frosted...
Enjoy your walk on the beach...
The colors are soft, and almost frosted...
Enjoy your walk on the beach...
This Week's Inspiration: Sea Glass
This week my colorway inspiration is sea glass and this beautiful book about sea glass.
I can imagine soft, translucent colorways...Can you?
I can imagine soft, translucent colorways...Can you?
My Blogging Buddy
This is Augustin, my blogging buddy.
He'll sit with me for hours provided the music is good, his head is warm, and the chair is comfy!
He'll sit with me for hours provided the music is good, his head is warm, and the chair is comfy!
Spontaneous Scarf #423,098,982
Here is the Spontaneous Scarf I made with the 3 new yarns from Stitch Nation: 1 skein each of Bamboo Ewe, Full of Sheep, and Alpaca Love. Basically I cast on somewhere between 200 and 300 sts on a long size 8 circ and did seed stitch using one color per row with about an 8" tail for knotting at each end for fringe. For more info about the much-loved Spontaneous Scarf, I did a blog post HERE that shows a scan of many scarves from the original Spin-Off article.
I added stripes in this scarf but most of my versions have been just one color in as many different yarns and fibers as I could manage. These scarves are a perfect way to use up all those odds and ends of yarns that result from a lot of color knitting.
MORE OLYMPIC KNITTING LINKS
Hannah Kearney, Olympic moguls gold medalist, is a knitter. HERE is an interview Sarah from Knitting.about.com did with her.
The free pattern for Mitts for Medals uses colorwork and cables.
HERE's gold medalist skiier Lindsey Vonn wearing the Dale of Norway Valle sweater. Personally I wouldn't pair it with a La Perla bikini and high heels but I'm just boring that way. And HERE is the same sweater for purchase. I can't find a pattern for the sweater unfortunately.
HERE is a graph of the Olympic rings motif to be used for knitting.
HERE are lots of photos from the Kama web site of the athletes from Andorra wearing those gorgeous colorwork sweaters around the events.
Go check out MariannAn's beautiful Wintersocks for Ravelympics 2010. They're one of the most beautiful Ravelry knitting projects I've seen lately.
The Retro Cardi for Girls
I have started work on the Retro Cardi for Girls.(The pattern will be offered as a pdf.) I picked a cotton yarn, Cotton Classic. It is a lovely cotton in a worsted weight. This will make the sweater a fast project!
I picked cotton as summer IS coming, but any worsted weight wool would be great as well. (Cascade 220, or Ella Rae Classic comes to mind.)
This is going to be so pretty...I can hardly wait to see Little Miss SockPixie and her dolls wearing matching outfits!
I picked cotton as summer IS coming, but any worsted weight wool would be great as well. (Cascade 220, or Ella Rae Classic comes to mind.)
This is going to be so pretty...I can hardly wait to see Little Miss SockPixie and her dolls wearing matching outfits!
Romi's Brandywine Shawl is Finished
I finished the Brandywine Shawl last night.
The shawl will be for my mother. I only knit 12 repeats of section B of the chart. (My mother is a very petite French lady!) That is another great thing about Romi's Brandywine Shawl. You can change its size so easily by adjusting the number of times you repeat section B of the chart. No complicated Math!
I am really happy with how the color touches look like shimmering reflections. (The yarn was SockPixie's Sunset over the Piazza). I have already selected a new colorway for another Brandywine shawl, this time the name of the recipient will remain a mystery, as she reads my blog (whereas my mother does not)! I will be using the Very Berry Strawberry colorway.
The shawl will be for my mother. I only knit 12 repeats of section B of the chart. (My mother is a very petite French lady!) That is another great thing about Romi's Brandywine Shawl. You can change its size so easily by adjusting the number of times you repeat section B of the chart. No complicated Math!
I am really happy with how the color touches look like shimmering reflections. (The yarn was SockPixie's Sunset over the Piazza). I have already selected a new colorway for another Brandywine shawl, this time the name of the recipient will remain a mystery, as she reads my blog (whereas my mother does not)! I will be using the Very Berry Strawberry colorway.
The Very Berry Colorways are Ready!
SockPixie's Very Berry colorways are ready. I have just uploaded them on the website.
These colorways just glow, they are so luscious you could eat them!
I hope you will enjoy your visit to my Very Berry garden.
These colorways just glow, they are so luscious you could eat them!
I hope you will enjoy your visit to my Very Berry garden.
Knitting Romi's Brandywine Shawl
I was so happy to be dyeing yarn last week, that I had to dye a skein just for me, and I had the perfect project in mind for it, Romi's new Brandywine shawl pattern.
Romi's shawl called for one skein of sock yarn. I dyed a skein of Sunset over the Piazza in a Merino blend. I wanted the shawl to look like the sun reflecting in the windows of Florentine buildings, giving coppery glows. The delicate Monet color touches seem to only add to the lace pattern.
I love the pattern. Romi did an amazing job. The pattern is fluid, and the design classic, understated yet striking. Romi wrote very clear instructions, and provided charts. I could not be happier with it. (She is also donating a very substantial amount of the proceeds of the sale of the pattern to help Haiti.)
I have just finished working on this week's SockPixie colorways, the Berry colorways. I have already dyed one extra skein for me to knit another Brandywine. (I will show you tomorrow when I update the SockPixie shop...)
Romi's shawl called for one skein of sock yarn. I dyed a skein of Sunset over the Piazza in a Merino blend. I wanted the shawl to look like the sun reflecting in the windows of Florentine buildings, giving coppery glows. The delicate Monet color touches seem to only add to the lace pattern.
I love the pattern. Romi did an amazing job. The pattern is fluid, and the design classic, understated yet striking. Romi wrote very clear instructions, and provided charts. I could not be happier with it. (She is also donating a very substantial amount of the proceeds of the sale of the pattern to help Haiti.)
I have just finished working on this week's SockPixie colorways, the Berry colorways. I have already dyed one extra skein for me to knit another Brandywine. (I will show you tomorrow when I update the SockPixie shop...)
Retro Cardi for Little Girl
I have started working on the adaptation of the Retro Cardi in girl sizes.
Here is the yarn, sitting on top of the loveliest strawberry fabric which will become a skirt to go with the cardi.
My color choices tell me I am in the mood for spring...Aren't you?
Here is the yarn, sitting on top of the loveliest strawberry fabric which will become a skirt to go with the cardi.
My color choices tell me I am in the mood for spring...Aren't you?
Thinking of Colors and a New Pattern
Thinking of colorways for this coming weekend's SockPixie store update...
Berries, yummy berry colorways...
Thnking of a new pattern... The Retro Cardi this time not for dolls but for girls young and old...
Berries, yummy berry colorways...
Thnking of a new pattern... The Retro Cardi this time not for dolls but for girls young and old...
The American Girl Doll Retro Cardi Free Knitting Pattern is Ready!
I am done!!
The American Girl Retro Cardi (I hope you like the name) is ready. I am offering it as a free knitting pattern.
Click on the button to download the pattern.
The American Girl Retro Cardi (I hope you like the name) is ready. I am offering it as a free knitting pattern.
Click on the button to download the pattern.
The American Girl Doll Sweater: Photo Time!
I am putting the final touches on the pattern making sure that it is as clear as possible and typo free. Mr. SockPixie is doing the editing for me and Miss SockPixie is re-reading it. Three pairs of eyes are always better than one!
For the time being, I want to share the pictures with you.
To model the sweaters, I chose Kit and Emily. Kit is wearing the coral red sweater knit with the KnitPicks Palette, and Emily is wearing the green sweater knit in the Jamieson's Spindrift.
I am, as you know, fond of buttons, and here they are glowing like little jewels on the clean folded buttonband.
The bottom edges are a simple rib.
The shoulders are attached with a 3 needle bind off, and the sleeves set in.
I am not promising the pattern will be ready tomorrow, but I am hoping... I can't wait to share this pattern with you!
For the time being, I want to share the pictures with you.
To model the sweaters, I chose Kit and Emily. Kit is wearing the coral red sweater knit with the KnitPicks Palette, and Emily is wearing the green sweater knit in the Jamieson's Spindrift.
I am, as you know, fond of buttons, and here they are glowing like little jewels on the clean folded buttonband.
The bottom edges are a simple rib.
The shoulders are attached with a 3 needle bind off, and the sleeves set in.
I am not promising the pattern will be ready tomorrow, but I am hoping... I can't wait to share this pattern with you!
American Girl Doll Sweater
Just a quick update to let you know that I am still working on the pattern for the American Girl Doll Sweater. I will be uploading the pdf tomorrow.
For now, it's back to work...
For now, it's back to work...
The Sunsets of Tuscany Collection is Ready
The colorways for this week at SockPixie are ready. I just uploaded the collection to the SockPixie Website.
Here are all the Sunsets of Tuscany colorways together.
I am going to play a CD of Italian music, and I'll just sit and stare at the yarns for a while...
Here are all the Sunsets of Tuscany colorways together.
I am going to play a CD of Italian music, and I'll just sit and stare at the yarns for a while...
Hand-dyed Surprises for Tomorrow!
As you may have noticed, I have not dyed yarn in a long time. But this week, I finally did. It was so exciting to play with colors again.
I approached dyeing just seeking to please my hunger for color. I created colorways to match the fibers, and picked fibers to flatter the colorways and reflect the textural qualities of my inspirations. I will have only a couple skeins available in each colorway, and the colorways will vary by fiber. There will be soft haloed alpaca blends and cashmere blends, luxurious silk blends, and seacell blends.
I chose to paint sunsets in Tuscany inspired by one of my favorite novels, Room with a View.
For Sunset over the Arno, I picked an Alpaca blend, seeking to capture not only the colors but also the hazy texture of the Tuscan evening air after a warm summer day.
I hope you will join me tomorrow, Sunday, to enjoy the romantic sunsets of Tuscany.
I approached dyeing just seeking to please my hunger for color. I created colorways to match the fibers, and picked fibers to flatter the colorways and reflect the textural qualities of my inspirations. I will have only a couple skeins available in each colorway, and the colorways will vary by fiber. There will be soft haloed alpaca blends and cashmere blends, luxurious silk blends, and seacell blends.
I chose to paint sunsets in Tuscany inspired by one of my favorite novels, Room with a View.
For Sunset over the Arno, I picked an Alpaca blend, seeking to capture not only the colors but also the hazy texture of the Tuscan evening air after a warm summer day.
I hope you will join me tomorrow, Sunday, to enjoy the romantic sunsets of Tuscany.
Olympic Knitting Update
I'm still working on the basic gloves for the beginner glove booklet and the Spontaneous Scarf. I probably will dash off a quick Nordic headband in honor of the Olympics.
I do have a few Olympic knitting links:
HERE is the striking Nordic hat the athletes from Andorra were wearing during the Parade of Nations in last night's Opening Ceremony. Check the photo for the navy, white, and red one - also someone on Ravelry had a screen shot of one athlete wearing the white/blue/black version. Apparently HERE is the sweater they were wearing.
If you have an extra $425 burning a hole in your pocket, HERE is the Ralph Lauren Aran sweater worn by the US athletes in the Opening Ceremony.
If you want to knit a moose? hat like the ones the US athletes were wearing, HERE is a free pattern that should get you started.
HERE is a free pattern for some Olympic mittens to coordinate with the official gear worn by the Canadian athletes.
ETA: HERE is a free pattern for red mittens with a maple leaf like the Canadian athletes were wearing. Also, HERE is a free pattern for the red and white O Canada Mittens complete with maple leaves and Olympic rings.
Finally, you absolutely must check out Ruth's beautifully-photographed blog. She is a knitter/dyer extraordinaire who lives in Whistler (quite possibly the most beautiful place on the planet) and is planning to get a lot of on-the-scenes photos of the Olympic festivities.
Once again Happy Valentine's Day!
I do have a few Olympic knitting links:
HERE is the striking Nordic hat the athletes from Andorra were wearing during the Parade of Nations in last night's Opening Ceremony. Check the photo for the navy, white, and red one - also someone on Ravelry had a screen shot of one athlete wearing the white/blue/black version. Apparently HERE is the sweater they were wearing.
If you have an extra $425 burning a hole in your pocket, HERE is the Ralph Lauren Aran sweater worn by the US athletes in the Opening Ceremony.
If you want to knit a moose? hat like the ones the US athletes were wearing, HERE is a free pattern that should get you started.
HERE is a free pattern for some Olympic mittens to coordinate with the official gear worn by the Canadian athletes.
ETA: HERE is a free pattern for red mittens with a maple leaf like the Canadian athletes were wearing. Also, HERE is a free pattern for the red and white O Canada Mittens complete with maple leaves and Olympic rings.
Finally, you absolutely must check out Ruth's beautifully-photographed blog. She is a knitter/dyer extraordinaire who lives in Whistler (quite possibly the most beautiful place on the planet) and is planning to get a lot of on-the-scenes photos of the Olympic festivities.
Once again Happy Valentine's Day!
Cute as a button!
The American Girl Doll sweaters are knit! I went and picked the buttons yesterday at Windsor Button in Boston.
I found exactly what I wanted, 1/4 inch buttons in colors matching the little sweaters: a soft green for the Jamieson's Sweater, and a coraly red for the Knitpicks sweater. I love the fact that the buttons are slightly iridescent. They look like little gems.
I don't know how you feel about it, but for me buttons are really important, they can make or break a sweater. Their color can sometimes play on the subtlety of the colors in the yarn, or highlight a delightful stitch. Buttons are just amazing!
I probably owe my fascination for buttons to my mother's button tin box. I am sure you mother had one too. As a child, I spent hours every Wednesday afternoon rummaging through the buttons, delighting at the sounds they would make as my hand dug deeper and deeper,and swooshed them to find the one perfect little treasure I had been dreaming of. I would categorize them, and engage in active trade with imaginary customers. I would spread my collection all over my mother's bed, even though I had been clearly told not to do so. But isn't your mother's bed the only place to sell buttons to imaginary customers? After hours of playing, and shortly before my mother's return, I would reluctantly put all the buttons back in the tin box. I would vaguely straighten the blankets to erase all traces of my activities.
I am sure my mother was never fooled, in particular when on Wednesday nights as she was getting into bed, she would find some forgotten buttons...
I have a button tin box of my own now, and little Miss SockPixie spends hours swooshing, digging, and trading...secretly of course...on my bed...
I found exactly what I wanted, 1/4 inch buttons in colors matching the little sweaters: a soft green for the Jamieson's Sweater, and a coraly red for the Knitpicks sweater. I love the fact that the buttons are slightly iridescent. They look like little gems.
I don't know how you feel about it, but for me buttons are really important, they can make or break a sweater. Their color can sometimes play on the subtlety of the colors in the yarn, or highlight a delightful stitch. Buttons are just amazing!
I probably owe my fascination for buttons to my mother's button tin box. I am sure you mother had one too. As a child, I spent hours every Wednesday afternoon rummaging through the buttons, delighting at the sounds they would make as my hand dug deeper and deeper,and swooshed them to find the one perfect little treasure I had been dreaming of. I would categorize them, and engage in active trade with imaginary customers. I would spread my collection all over my mother's bed, even though I had been clearly told not to do so. But isn't your mother's bed the only place to sell buttons to imaginary customers? After hours of playing, and shortly before my mother's return, I would reluctantly put all the buttons back in the tin box. I would vaguely straighten the blankets to erase all traces of my activities.
I am sure my mother was never fooled, in particular when on Wednesday nights as she was getting into bed, she would find some forgotten buttons...
I have a button tin box of my own now, and little Miss SockPixie spends hours swooshing, digging, and trading...secretly of course...on my bed...
Stitch Nation Yarns
A month ago I received a sample of 3 new yarns from Debbie Stoller of Stitch and Bitch fame and Red Heart yarns. These yarns are all affordable at less than $5 a skein. The bright colors are definitely right up my alley.
There are three lines - Full of Sheep (single ply), Alpaca Love (an alpaca wool blend) and my overwheming favorite Bamboo Ewe - 55% bamboo and 45% wool. Bamboo Ewe has a lovely shine and is quite soft (the softest of all three) although I'd probably use it for something other than colorwork because it isn't as elastic as the others. For more information on these yarns, go to Stitch Nation Yarn.
I'm working on a simple spontaneous scarf with a skein of each type. To make a spontaneous scarf, cast on enough stitches on a long circular needle for the length of the scarf and knit in seed stitch. Each row is a different yarn with about an 8" tail to knot for fringe. I'll donate the resulting scarf to our local House Rabbit Society group to sell at a yard sale.
TODAY'S COLOR KNITTING LINKS
Drops and Garnstudio have a really cute free colorwork sock knitting pattern for Valentine's Day HERE.
Schoolhouse Press is the first to offer Ron Schweitzer's beautiful Fair Isle sweater patterns in standalone booklets. (You can also order them in kit form from Yarns International.) I own Appalachian Portraits and his designs are even more spectacular considering he only uses naturally-colored wools.
The Smithsonian is teaching color knitting through their Resident Associate program. Go HERE to sign up.
Karen's Variety is a web site selling some fun vintage knitting patterns.
This beautiful free mitten pattern combines Nordic and Islamic motifs - Andalus Mittens.
If you buy a lot of digital knitting books, here's a good article called The Archaic Art of Printing E-Books from Home.
HERE are some upcoming colorwork books to look forward to: Estonian Mittens All Around the World, Norwegian Patterns for Knitting by Mette Handberg, and Poetry in Stitches is being re-released (for a whopping $45).
I hope to have a free pattern for a colorwork scarf to offer you soon; I just need DH to model it for the photo shoot. Happy Valentine's Day!
Relaxing Crochet
I am making real progress on the American Girl Doll Sweater pattern . The pattern is written and is being tested before a final editing. I expect the pattern will be ready sometime over the coming weekend. I am going to pick buttons tomorrow, and I am going to spend some time brushing the hair of the dolls, and playing with different outfits...of course the only reason I am "playing" with the doll is for the pictures! ;)
My knitting has been so focused lately that I needed a relaxed easy project. Crochet granny squares are exactly what I need when the knitting gets intense. I can just crochet a couple a day, and eventually I will have enough for a blanket!
I found the cutest pattern for floral granny squares on the beautiful blog Rosehip.
I had some Cornucopia yarn by Kollage in my stash, in bright cheerful colors. So there we go, here are the first 3 squares...
These little flowery squares make me smile. I think they could cheer up anybody's day, don't you?
My knitting has been so focused lately that I needed a relaxed easy project. Crochet granny squares are exactly what I need when the knitting gets intense. I can just crochet a couple a day, and eventually I will have enough for a blanket!
I found the cutest pattern for floral granny squares on the beautiful blog Rosehip.
I had some Cornucopia yarn by Kollage in my stash, in bright cheerful colors. So there we go, here are the first 3 squares...
These little flowery squares make me smile. I think they could cheer up anybody's day, don't you?
Natural Inspirations
For today a little natural inspiration...
This makes me feel like embroidering...
This makes me feel like embroidering...
Lots of photos, snow
It has been a really good year for snow so far here. Here's the view outside my front door yesterday.
I have come to the conclusion that I am seriously over-extended. So far I've deleted my Twitter account and I am going to stop answering every blog comment individually. I will try to answer all questions though. The beginner glove knitting book will probably not be available until March at the earliest. Right now I have about 300 photos to go through and I'm not finished taking photos.
I started another spontaneous scarf so I should have that to show you next week. I'm using 3 different kinds of the new Stitch and Bitch yarn line I was sent.
Progress on the American Girl Doll Sweater
Progress on the American Girl Doll Sweater? Need I say more?
Progress on the American Girl Doll Sweater
I started reknitting the American Girl Doll Sweater today using Jamieson's Spindrift in the Moorgrass colorway.
So far, everything is progressing beautifully. The colors are scrumptious, and the pattern looks so beautiful in this yarn.
I have reworked the pattern for the main body of the sweater so that it is knit in one piece (except for the sleeves.) No seams at the sides means a little less bulk under the arms, and of course a little less finishing. I am also going to replace the shoulder seams with a 3 needle bind off for a nice clean look.
The work on the Pam Allen's Indian Floral Vest was halted for the day. I always feel odd working on 2 projects at once. I feel guilty half the time and even find myself worrying that one project will become jealous of the other! Do you ever feel that way?
So far, everything is progressing beautifully. The colors are scrumptious, and the pattern looks so beautiful in this yarn.
I have reworked the pattern for the main body of the sweater so that it is knit in one piece (except for the sleeves.) No seams at the sides means a little less bulk under the arms, and of course a little less finishing. I am also going to replace the shoulder seams with a 3 needle bind off for a nice clean look.
The work on the Pam Allen's Indian Floral Vest was halted for the day. I always feel odd working on 2 projects at once. I feel guilty half the time and even find myself worrying that one project will become jealous of the other! Do you ever feel that way?
Knitting Pam Allen's Indian Floral Vest
Yes, I am finally knitting Pam Allen's Indian Floral Vest! I started yesterday afternoon. I actually started with the left front. (I know you should start with the back, but I just felt like knitting the fronts!)
The left front is finished and I have marked the location of the buttons in order to place the buttonholes properly on the right front. (I am looking forward to making the buttons, they are crochet buttons!)
The detail on the vest is beautiful. I love how Pam Allen worked the bottom edge. It is so feminine, and the waist shaping will be so flattering. And the way my red handspun Shetland is knitting up is making me so happy!
Before I go, I wanted to tell you Mr. SockPixie loved his Moth Mittens, and wore them for the first time today!
The left front is finished and I have marked the location of the buttons in order to place the buttonholes properly on the right front. (I am looking forward to making the buttons, they are crochet buttons!)
The detail on the vest is beautiful. I love how Pam Allen worked the bottom edge. It is so feminine, and the waist shaping will be so flattering. And the way my red handspun Shetland is knitting up is making me so happy!
Before I go, I wanted to tell you Mr. SockPixie loved his Moth Mittens, and wore them for the first time today!
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