Category Archives: Patterns

Any and everything relating to knitting patterns.

Bring on Autumn – Pattern Sale Announced

General Gab, PatternsLeave a comment

Southdown/Jacob x Shetland sample skein

Ah – autumn. My old friend and foe is back. Autumn is bittersweet for me – the end of summer means I don’t have to complain endlessly about high heat and sunbeams that conspire to fry my skin despite all the sunblock I put on. It means I get to bust out the warm woollens I spend so much time creating.

But, it also means the end to the vegetable garden, which is a big part of my life. And it means the oncoming of winter, which in Edmonton is cold, and long.

Summer are quiet months online because I’m outside enjoying the season as much as possible before it’s time to hunker down for another winter. But autumn and winter always give me the opportunity to spend more time inside, and catch up on all the projects I have bubbling around in my head – and there are tons. Some of which I teased here, but more importantly, quite a few new patterns in various stages of completeness. If you’re on my pattern testing email group, keep an eye out. In the coming weeks there will be a few announcements.

I’ve even busted out an old sewing machine I’ve been lugging around with me for 10 years. When I say old, I mean old – a Singer 301 from 1953. Fortunately, it seems to work perfectly, and I’ve even been slowly learning how to use it. Who knows, maybe I’ll even share some sewing on this blog when I feel like I can, at the bare minimum, keep a seam straight (seriously, that’s a struggle right now).

But to bring on the fall with a bang, I’ve decided to run a pattern sale!

All patterns in my Ravelry Store are 33% off from now until September 30th MST. There’s no limit, and no coupon codes needed – just pop the patterns in your cart and and the discount will be automatically applied.

Click here to browse the patterns.

New Pattern Release: Zostera

Completed Patterns, Patterns

I’m very pleased to announce my newest knitting pattern release – Zostera!

Zostera is my love letter to living on the coast.

The tang of a salty breeze coming off the ocean is one of the things I miss most about living on the west coast of British Columbia, and looking over a dock and watching sea grasses move gently in the current is like peering into another world. Zostera features texture and lace that remind of that movement – using a knit/purl stitches, slipped stitches, and lace, this shawl is inspired by those forms locked away under the ocean’s surface.

This shawl is cast on at one end, then gently increases along one edge to create an asymmetric shape.

I designed the repeats to be easy to memorize – making it the perfect summer project for when you’re soaking up some sun on the beach, out camping, or on a road trip.

Zostera is free through Knotions, so head on over here to get the pattern for yourself.

New Pattern Release: Vestiges of Winter

Completed Patterns, Patterns

Vestiges of Winter was designed while watching the snow fall, hoping winter was finally on its way out and spring is just around the corner.

Designed to be a quick and easy knit, this toque was made with handspun in mind, but works equally well with commercial yarns. It can be knit in a few hours, and is perfect for gift and charity work, or to use up partial balls of colour you have left over from other projects.

Using Fair Isle knitting, this hat is an easy introduction to this technique for knitters looking to branch out and experiment.

Check out the pattern page here, and head on over to Ravelry here.

I’m pleased as punch to offer this pattern for free until midnight on April 4th (MST).

Pattern Release: Clovis Point Shawl

Completed Patterns, Patterns

I’m very pleased to announce my newest release, the Clovis Point!

This is a top-down shawl, with instructions for two sizes (and easily adjusted to fit your desired measurement). Using a selection of cables, lace, and textured stitches, it provides interest while knitting, and creates a harmonious piece that can become an every day staple in your wardrobe. Pick one all over colour, or pick two, using the textured border as a highlight to the main body (the above images show it in Cascade 220 Sport in the Straw and Ginseng colourways).

I took my inspiration for this design from the forms of Clovis projectile points – slender fluted points that were used as spear and dart heads, dating to as early as approximately 13,200 years ago. Named after the city where they were first discovered – Clovis, New Mexico – these have actually been found as far south as Venezuela and all the way north into Alberta.

One of the things I love about archaeology is that you can see, in tangible form, the history of ideas taking shape and spreading. Often when I tell people that while I was in university that I had a particular interest in trade routes of North America, you can actually see eyes begin to glaze over.

But it’s not just stuff that gets moved around, it’s the ideas that come with it. Clovis projectile points are an excellent example – you can actually see a new method and technology begin, and through tracing where that technology ends up, you can see what culture connect with other cultures, and the ideas spread.

A Clovis projectile point isn’t just a spear head, it’s our shared history of learning and of our movement (physically and metaphorically) as a species, and that I find infinitely inspirational.

Click here to go to the pattern page or here to go to the Ravelry page, where you’ll find more info on sizes, yardage, and materials needed.

To celebrate it’s release, if you purchase the pattern anytime from now until February 12th (midnight MST) you automatically get 15% at check out (no coupon code required).

On Breaks & Fresh Perspectives

General Gab, Patterns, Works In Progress

What a crazy past few weeks!

Although much late, I do wish to say I hope everybody had a lovely holiday season. Mine was busy (but good), and the past few weeks I’ve been down for the count with various minor ailments that have been taking up far too much of my time an energy – capped off by a wicked head cold that completely thwarted all my attempts to knit (damnit).

I am very happy, however, that in December (and a bit into January) I decided to take a few weeks off from designing and instead, focused on knitting some other designer’s patterns.

The first, and my official entry into the 2016 Indie Designer Gift-A-Long was the Stranger Things Cowl by Mary Annarella. I love this thing! It’s so lovely and warm, and the design is incredibly fun. I knit it with Drops Alpaca, which is a little fuzzy for a stranded pattern, but the feel of it is heavenly. It’s so much fun to wear, and fans of the show immediately get it.

I ended up using 225 yds of the light grey and 206 yds of the dark grey. Why 20 yards less when both sides are exactly the same? Who knows, it’s one of those mysteries.

The second project I made up was Ella Austin’s Leighton House Handwarmers. Again, I used a slightly fuzzier alpaca – I really have to stop doing that for extremely fine stranded patterns. But the siren call of soft warm alpaca is something I can’t beat. However, when I knit this pattern again (which I will), I will go with a yarn that affords a bit more stitch definition, so I can really do this design its justice.

What I loved most about this pattern (besides just how plain beautiful it is), is although it’s extremely finely detailed, the repeats are very easy to remember. For the yarn I used Scheepjes Alpaca Rhythm in three colours: the light blue (cuff and Latvian braids) I used approximately 26 yards, for the dark blue on the hand I used about 61 yards, and for the whitish main colour I used 96 yards – leaving more than half the balls. I could easily knit up another pair without purchasing any more yarn!

So as you can see, I’ve been on a bit of a stranded kick lately.

But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been working on my own patterns. After a few weeks break I came back looking at a few projects fresh, which is exactly what they needed, and jotted down ideas for a few more. I even came up with a long-form multi-release project, which is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while but couldn’t quite nail down exactly what I wanted to do.

Sometimes mini-breaks are all you need to clear the cobwebs out. Gives you a fresh perspective on something that otherwise you’re starting to run circles around.