a haiku about yarn

warm and fuzzy yarn
makes me happy in my soul
smiling when I knit

knit love :: doctor who in knitty

It was only a matter of time before Doctor Who found its way onto Knitty.com, one of the most popular knitting pattern magazines on the Internet. This summer’s Knitty Surprise features “Bigger on the Inside,” a cleverly designed shawl with modern shaping and a slew of adorable lace TARDISes.

I love the ‘Time Vortex’ lace, and the angular ribbing compliments the TARDISes perfectly! And hey, maybe this will get more knitters watching Doctor Who!

Queue it up here:

And get it here!

ek

knit love :: slippers

There’s just something about slippers … I want to make them all.

I absolutely love these cottage slippers from Lion Brand.

These are from a new book by Mel Clark. Looks like I need to make sure I move somewhere with a washer and dryer so I can felt stuff again!

I forgot these baby slippers existed until we were taking inventory of patterns at the shop. SO CUTE.

These ones seem like a TON of work, but based on how great all the finished objects look it must be a really nice, clear, well-structured pattern.

I made a pair of these two winters ago and they were maybe my favorite hand-knit thing ever. And then a cat peed on it and they were beyond saving. I suppose it’s time to make another pair!

Maybe a crochet pair!

I want to make them all. Who wants to sponsor my knitting habit?

ek

a noble cowl, revisited

It’s been over three years since I originally released my Noble Cowl pattern, so I thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of the finished products and provide a few comments that I keep running into via email and Ravelry messages.

First, pictures!

Raveler Neelo made hers extra long and treated it like an eternity cowl. Love that! I’m also a total sucker for that lovely yellow!

This one was of the first dozen or so of the pattern completed and shared on Ravelry. The red is beautiful and the cowl against a dark background really shows off the lace.

This is just a gorgeous photo! I also adore the shawl pin.

I’m so happy that shhanalog knit this up in Malabrigo, and in such a terrific colorway. No project is complete without someone using Malabrigo! I’m also chuffed by her comments:

This is hands-down my favorite thing I’ve ever knit. Favorite yarn, best color, gorgeous pattern. I’m in love with it.

Now to some additional pattern notes!

• I get asked quite often if there is a chart. Well, there is!

Thank you Raveler Megalion for making the chart!

• As you can see in the chart, from rows 11–22 the pattern repeat changes from 15 stitches to 16 stitches. This is a consequence of the decreases in row 11. You won’t end up with extra stitches at the end of the row or anything funny like that so long as you follow the pattern as written.
• A few people have asked about parts of the pattern in red. These are merely corrections. I should probably just take that out, but I didn’t want to bother uploading another version of the pattern to Ravelry. So don’t worry about the red; just know that the pattern used to miss some instruction but it’s all there now!
• If you are a native German speaker you can find a version in German here (PDF file, requires a PDF reader to open).
• If you are a left-handed knitter, you can find a translation here.

To those of you that have made any of the current 1919 (!!!) Noble Cowls linked on Ravelry: THANK YOU!!!!!

If you haven’t made one and want to, you can find a copy here.

Happy knitting!
ek

goodies :: yarn market gift bag from classic elite yarns

Earlier this month, some of the Hill Country Weavers staff headed out to Boston for the Yarn Market News Conference, where they learned all about small business management, marketing, social media, and general good-willed yarniness. And when they returned, they brought with them goodies and handouts from many of the vendors present at the con. We’re in the process of divvying up the goodies amongst the ladies of the shop, and today I got to come home with this lovely little goodie bag from Classic Elite Yarns.

Included were two skeins of their Firefly yarn, a pair of 24″ US6 ChiaoGoo circular knitting needles, and felted keyfob (with info cards for yarn weights, how to do a kitchener stitch, and other useful stuff), a pattern for their Firefly yarn (though not enough to make it, go figure), a pen (I love office supplies!), and a great pin:

I love my yarn shop so much I work at it.

I can’t wait to play with their Firefly yarn: 155 yards, 25% Viscose/75% Linen, dk weight yarn with a lovely shine and a tad of fuzz from the viscose. Another thing to add to my “knit soon” pile. Once I get through the million other things I need to finish.

ek