Free Knitting Patterns, Instructions, Projects & Designs.

Just the right weight for springtime - I made a version of my Stefanie Moebius pattern from Knit Picks’ Wool of the Andes Sport. I used Woodland Heather and Sapphire Heather. I adore sport-weight yarn, which added to this project’s fun factor. I previously made one from Lorna’s Laces, and high on my to-do list is to make one from Tosh Sport too. All these companies have such great colors to choose from!

If you’d like to make one of these yourself, the pattern is from my book Reversible Scarves: Curing the Wrong Side Blues. There are directions for the tricky-but-fun Moebius cast-on that Cat Bordhi teaches. One of the elements I like about this design is the contrasting edging; it emphasizes the intriguing Moebius shape.

Resources:

Reversible Scarves: Curing the Wrong Side Blues

Cat Bordhi’s Moebius Cast-On video

Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Sport

Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport

Madelinetosh Tosh Sport

Into the capable hands of UPS

24 swatches, all carefully knit and researched.

19 questions researched, answered and referenced.

4 book reviews.

A paper on the History of Knitting, all researched and referenced.

A cute little Fair Isle wristlet – knit three times until I thought it might be acceptable.

An argyle sock – which left me in disbelief that it was actually a popular thing to make at one time.

A vest, which didn’t have to be designed from scratch, but which I designed from scratch anyway. (I can’t wait to show it to you, because I like it!)

…all this, squashed into one notebook and a baggie for shipment to TKGA headquarters in Zanesville.

This is the next step for Level 2 of the TKGA Master Hand Knitting Program, sending it in for review! I’ve worked on it intensely for at least six months. The review committee will evaluate it, then send it back to me with requests to re-do any parts that don’t live up to their standards. Then I’ll re-submit whatever they don’t like the first time around and hope like heck they pass me.

For Level 1, I had to re-submit the hat project and three questions. I wonder what I’ll have to re-do this time around? I’m kind of embarrassed to admit that I actually woke up in a sweat at 3:00 one morning having had a nightmare that they sent back the entire notebook, saying I had to re-submit everything. Now, that’s obsessed!

Have you been following the Fiber Factor?

If you haven’t heard of it yet, it bills itself as ”a knitting design competition being held to find the next great knitwear designing superstar!” Twelve extremely talented contestants compete to win 6 challenges, with an overall winner receiving a trip to Germany.

The first challenge, called “Knit Your Life” is underway. I love watching the progress videos. It’s inspiring to see how these designers come up with their concepts!

What would you include in a design that shows people who you are?

I’ve never done intarsia before (except for years ago on an early project which didn’t count because it was so bad I had to felt it to make the holes go away…). One of the purposes of going through the Master Hand Knitting Program is to learn new skills. The problem is, you have to do them well. In teaching myself how to knit the argyle socks that are required for Level 2, I feel like I’m trying to learn how to snowboard and juggle at the same time, with bobbins, wrapping at the color changes and stitch tension all vying for my attention.

My mother used to tell me that when she was in college, she and her friends knit argyle socks as thank-you gifts for their boyfriends after they’d gone to a dance. All I can say is, that must have been some dance!

 Oh, how I wish Mom could teach me how to make these. In the meantime, if you have stories like my mom’s, I’d love to hear about them in the comment section. Were you part of the argyle sock craze? How did you manage all those strands while also juggling text books and taking notes? How long would it take you to make a pair? Did you work the crossed lines in intarsia, or did you duplicate stitch them later?

Mom said the students knit their socks in class. Can you imagine taking this mess to class? Something tells me this is not how it was done!

I’ve been remiss in posting lately. I’ve been so busy on the TKGA Level 2 project, I haven’t had time for anything else. So here’s a photo from my garden which I hope you’ll like. Not a bad substitute for knitting-related posts, I hope!

You might remember from a previous post that my friend Cindy and I are slogging working our way through the TKGA Master Hand Knitting Program‘s Level 2. I hate to whine, so let’s just say the Greek myth of Sisyphus has been much on my mind lately.  Every time I get through another section of the program I fool myself into thinking I might be getting closer to the end.  Then I realize how much more there is to research and write and knit. The list seems to multiply while I’m not looking.

Seriously, this program is wonderful for someone like me who loves to learn. I honestly appreciate finding out what I don’t know, so I can add to my skill set. I just finished researching Level 2′s section on cables. Here are the swatches, awaiting their final tags:

Next it’s on to buttonholes, stranding, argyle socks……Whew!

Resources:

The Knitting Guild Association: Check this out for excellent correspondence courses, the fabulous Cast On magazine, and conferences.

This time of year here on California’s Central Coast is a feast for the eyes.

Rolling Hills, with a glimpse of the mountains forming Morro Bay in the distance

Morro Rock in the haze

Looking toward the ocean at sunset

My nephew and niece-in-law (I call her our “nice-in-law) are avid photographers. They love catching early morning light, but it can be mighty chilly! Fingerless mitts are just what they need to keep their hands warm, while their fingers are free to move the controls on their cameras.

I adapted my Kellie Fingerless Gloves pattern, replacing the fingers with ribbing at the tops.

The good thing about having a big stash of sock yarn (well, my husband might call it “justification”) is that I had some great jacquard patterned yarn on hand. My nephew and his wife each picked the color that appealed to them for the hand section, and I chose some solids to match for the ribbing.

Resources

Kellie Fingerless Gloves patttern

Lang Yarn Jawool Aktion Color

Regia 4-Ply solids

This weekend the Ball & Skein & More in beautiful Cambria, California, will be hosting book signings for my Reversible Scarves: Curing the Wrong Side Blues. I’ll be signing books on both Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 to 3:00. The trunk show of samples from the book will be up, too, if you’d like to see the scarves in person!

I wasn’t able to block the Downton Abbey Mystery KAL mitts before leaving for Stitches West, but here they are at last.

Participating in the knit-a-long was fun!

And so it begins. The yarnie love-fest that is Stitches West. It’s always such fun to see friends from near and far. The preview session was last night, and here’s the crowd waiting for the official opening today.

Excitement is in the air, as the line snakes down the hallway!

I’ll be doing three book signings during Sitches West this year:

Friday 1:30

Saturday 11:30

Sunday 12:00

All the signings will be at the Yarn Barn of Kansas, Booth 404. Hope to see you there!

Congratulations to Linda! She won the Coastal Knits giveaway.

Written by Alana Dakos and Hannah Fettig, Coastal Knits contains fabulous patterns, unified by the theme of the two designers getting their inspiration from the two separate coasts they live near. The book is a joy to look at, with lovely graphics, stunning photography that makes you want to visit all the places they talk about, and designs that tempt me to set aside everything else I’m doing and just knit one pattern after another.

If you don’t already own this wonderful book, you can check out the Coastal Knits website to see what I mean!