Selfish knitting

Once I finished up all the Christmas knitting (on December 27th, but who's judging, right?) I fell headlong into a morass of long-overdue selfish knitting. This is the second of four things that I've knit for myself in the last few weeks, but I'm putting it out here first because the first things I knit for myself, while lovely and much appreciated, are also somewhat boring. There you have it.

Here is my new selfish hat:


This hat all began when JoAnna pointed me in the direction of Looped Yarn Works in Dupont Circle. I was all hot and bothered to get yarn for my slippers, so I made a break for it while Himself and the girls were buying out Kramerbooks and walked into yarn nirvana. It's a lovely shop, up a set of stairs, with fabulous light and lots and lots of pretties.

I managed to focus long enough to get some Cascade 220 for the clogs,

but then I looked up and saw a basket full of little jewels of yarn. A pile of this yarn, in fact.

I. Was. Smitten. So this particular ball came away with me, and I knew from that moment it was going to be a hat.


It's knit from the top down, with a yarn over eyelet pattern that spirals down to the ribbing band. This particular yarn only has 127 yards per ball, so it's not quite as slouchy as I wanted it to be. But still...it's lovely and soft and scrummy, the colors are divine, and it did a good job keeping my head warm yesterday on our 2 hour dog walk along the river.

However, I do want to see how it looks with a bit more depth to it, so as soon as I get the shop update online tomorrow, and pack up some samples for Fibreholics UK, I'm going to spin up some singles and see if I can't get a version I like better. Stay tuned for pattern...

ETA: If you're interested, I'm offering 10% off any fiber purchase if you can guess the inspiration behind tomorrow's new colorways. Head over to this Ravelry thread and post your guesses!

Travelling Hats are on the road

I am very pleased to announce that, after must consternation and fretting on my part, my new collection of designs is now available. Meet Travelling Hats,

This is a group of five hat patterns, all available seperately, or in a single pdf download. All of the designs are inspired by cities that we've visited in the last three and a half years while we've been in the UK. There's the Delhi Beanie,

the Copenhagen Hat (which can be done in two colors or in a knit-purl textured motif),

the double-thickness, lined-with-alpaca-goodness Boston Toque,

a slouchy, reverse-stockinette cap inspired by the London Eye,

and finally, a lace-knitting-on-every-round beret worked in worsted weight yarn, inspired by the cafes of Paris.

The hats are all sized from baby-adult large (specific measurements are included on the Ravelry pages for each pattern), and are all pretty quick, covering a wide range of difficulties. There really is something for everyone. Most of them use less the 200 yds of yarn (ranging from DK to aran weight), and can be whipped up in a couple of evenings, so they're perfect for last minute holiday gifts.

The Ravelry page for the collection is here, and I'll be adding the patterns to my Patterns for Sale page in the next little while, if you're interested. Individual patterns are $5.00 each, or you can buy the e-book, with all five patterns and additional schematics, for $20.00.

I need to thank my fabulous test knitters, once again from the Ravelry Free Pattern Testers group, who this time around were many and eagle-eyed. In alphabetical order: BrindleviewFarm, catdragon, CatSaysKnit, CrafteeWitch, GiddyCrafter, iammo, JenAus0524, jhandmade, kimkat, KnitterBeth, Kokolat, kyorei, LionesseM, maineknitter1975, MandyzMoon, maperkei, Momto3boys, neddhead, peggylaine, Ravelling, sandyvar, shortbusmom, siro2, SnookiesOz, TosaGirl, yofed and yukachan08.

And I have to thank Alli, and Devil and Boo for their enthusiastic (and not-so) modelling of these babies. Mwah!

Incoming ebook!

At long last, I'm am thrilled to announce that my new eBook, Travelling Hats, is almost ready for release, just in time for last minute Christmas knitting!

This eBook includes five patterns (all of which will also be available individually), ranging in size from baby to adult. Each hat is inspired by a city that I've visited since moving to the UK almost 4 years ago, and each one has a special story that goes along with it. The inspirational cities are Paris, Copenhagen, Delhi, London and my hometown, Boston.

Details: Yarn weights range from DK to aran (heavy worsted), and there's a variety of techniques to choose from: lace, colorwork, twisted stitches. Hat styles include beret, slouchy hairbag (as Brenda Dayne refers to them), ski hat with tassel, simple beanie and a double-thickness toque with a lining for really cold days. All are fairly quick knits - I think the longest prototype took me under a week of not very serious time investment, and the testers got them finished off in between 5-8 hours, for the most part. So if you are in need of a bunch of quick knits for holiday presents, this may be just the ticket!

I'm hoping to get the final edits done this week and have it up by the beginning of December. I'll post here, on Twitter, and on the Ravelry group with further updates as they develop.

So. Excited. To. Get. This. Out!

Photo-frustration

It's that time of year when blogging becomes much more difficult due to the fact that I seem to find it impossible to remember to take pictures of things on the weekends when the sun is out. During the week, we end up getting home anywhere from 4:00-6:00 pm, and by then it is pitch black. And I'm no good at taking good pictures with a flash yet.

It's frustrating, because I've got two patterns that are test knit and ready to go, except for pictures. And there is now a large backlog of unblogged finished projects. Bah! For the moment, I'll have to settle for a couple of cell phone pictures of girl stuff from the weekend.

Boo in a handspun hat and Devil in a new handspun sweater

I have grand plans however, grand plans...tomorrow I am going to actually be at home during the day, and the weather is looking like maybe it will cooperate a little bit (i.e. maybe a drizzle early on, but no heavy rain. No sun either, but we'll see how that plays out). The plans involve me, a tripod, Himself's lovely fancy camera, my back porch, a confused dog, and hopefully some good pictures! Although I'm afraid Dev's sweater won't fit me...might have to pin her down for some pictures on Friday afternoon. If I'm lucky, I'll get enough photos for a really looooooooooong post on Friday to update you on all this stuff.

The Southwark Collection, part 1

I've been alluding to this collection of designs that I'm working on behind the scenes, and I decided that since I'm going to self-publish them, there's no premium on secrecy. So the next few posts will talk a bit about the inspiration behind each of the designs, and give you a sneak peek. I'm hoping to get all three patterns released by mid-November.

I work near London Bridge, in a part of town known as Southwark. Each of the three pieces in the collection is inspired by an architectural feature that I see routinely around work: Tower Bridge, the Gherkin and the Shard.

The first design I'm going to talk about is actually the second one I knit, and is inspired by a building that isn't even finished yet. The Shard of Glass is currently being built right next to London Bridge Rail Station, and I can see it going up every day from the platform where I catch my train. Right now it looks like this:

But in the not too distant future, it's going to look like this. To say that this building is going to be a bit incongruous in its current surroundings would be misleading - there is nothing nearby that looks even remotely like this in the vicinity! Ah, progress...

Given that the building isn't even done yet, the Shard hat bears a resemblance to the ultimate (theoretical) finished project, but isn't a direct representation. I knit the first version in Cascade 220 heathers.

It's a pretty good size, about 21 inches around unstretched, but I charted the whole thing. And I wasn't so thrilled at the prospect of doing a new chart for each size. And I wanted multiple sizes. So I decided that the easiest way to get different sizes would be to knit the same chart at varying gauges.

Now I'm working on the DK version, with plans for sport weight and fingering weight. I'm using Drops Extra Fine Merino for the DK hat, and it is amazing yarn - soft, bouncy and superwash. What's not to love? I haven't completely bought in to an Aran weight version, but that might happen too. It's an easy knit/purl pattern, and would be equally suitable for men, women or kids - I think a lot of people in my world are getting hats for Christmas!