Free Knitting Patterns, Instructions, Projects & Designs.

At long last, my Knab Fingerless Gloves are  finished. The pattern is in Ann Feitelson’s The Art of Fair Isle Knitting: History, Technique, Color & Patterns. I used Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift. By far the hardest part of the project was narrowing down the colors. Loop and Leaf in Santa Barbara carries a veritable rainbow of tantalizing shades. All of which I wanted to take home with me. Fortunately Celeste, with her expert eye for Fair Isle, was able to help me narrow it down.

Many thanks to my steadfast husband Steve for photographing the gloves.

Do you recognize this ribbing? It’s from my all time favorite Tangled Yoke Cardigan. I know, I know. I just finished this in blue a couple of months ago. But here’s what happened…

My LYS was getting down to its last few balls of green Rowan Felted Tweed. I’d been eyeing it for weeks. I couldn’t justify adding it to my stash, since any more yarn could cause the cupboard to explode.  You know how it is when yarn lust meets pattern love. The situation called for immediate action, like casting on another Tangled Yoke Cardigan.

While flying to yet another family health crisis in another state, I was able to knit one sleeve. It’s twin materialized on the trip back home. (My yardage-per-flight-mile calculator seems spot on!) And I took comfort in knitting a pattern I know I love.

This is like mending that relationship that almost worked out. This time I’m going to do things differently. This  time I’m going to remember to try adding more short rows to the back for a better fit near the neck. This  time I’m going to pay more attention and fix mistakes before they become irreparable.

Don’t get me wrong. My blue Tangled Yoke Cardigan and I are still good friends. I just wore it on a lovely walk by Moonstone Beach the other evening. But the green one… well it holds such promise for happily ever after. If I can just get it right. This time.

I haven’t participated in a knit-along (KAL) before. A friend of mine raved about a wonderful workshop she took from Lizbeth Upitis on making Latvian mittens. I’ve always admired their intricate, colorful designs, and the KAL presents a great opportunity to give it a try. 

The KAL is on the Ravelry group Knit Like A Latvian (don’t you love the name?). I’m so excited -  Lizbeth Upitis herself will moderate! While participants can use any Latvian mitten pattern, or even design their own, I wanted to use Lizbeth’s book for my first attempt. Latvian Mittens, is filled with color photos and charts. It’s instructions are clear, with line drawings for  the trickier techniques. Can you believe Lizbeth even learned the Latvian language. Now that’s dedication!

Another first will be using Satakieli yarn. At 26 sts per 4″ on 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 mm needles, it sits right on the cusp between fingering and sport weight.

I’m all set for the KAL’s launch on August 7th.

Finally I’m getting around to starting the second of my Knab Fingerless Mitts. Here’s the first one:

My impetus? I joined the Knit Like A Latvian group on Ravelry. As luck would have it, there is a KAL coming up which the renowned Lzbeth Upitis will moderate. What a fun opportunity to learn how to knit a beautiful Latvian style of mitten.

The problem is, I’m all out of project bags. Which means I need to finish something to make room. I might as well finish a stranded project, and that narrows things down to theses mitts. I love all the Jamieson colors I chose for these mitts, and its fun to become re-acquainted with them. Jimmy D thinks so too. He usually reserves his yarn-mauling for alpaca. But all these balls of Jamieson made an irresistible nest.

The project happened to be in his favorite sunny spot. He rearranged the yarn until it was just right for a nap.

Last time you saw Girasole, it had just been started.

My, how it has grown!

If I had to write another one of those “What Does Summer Mean To You” essays for grade school, I’d now say baseball and knitting blankets.

Blankets?

I know, the last thing on most knitters’ list of summer projects is a big heavy blanket.  (And trust me, Pastaza makes for a heavy blanket). But happily, we’re under the Pacific Ocean’s influence, which gives us cool evenings.

As a matter of fact, my poor neighbors planned a fantastic Fourth of July party one year. They knocked themselves out getting their yard ready for dinner and dancing outside under the stars. Dinner was catered. The band was the best you could hire… We knew we were in trouble when we all donned overcoats and sweaters at 6:00 in the evening, just for the drive over. By 8:00, everyone, bundled up as we were, was shivering and heading for home. I felt so bad for our hosts! You just never know about California. 

But I digress…

My husband loves watching baseball, and I love to keep him company and pretend I love watching baseball too. A big project like the Girasole blanket is just right for long innings. And it’s warmth is welcome by the time the cool evenings come around. Its repetitive nature offers enough serenity to counteract errors, foul balls and disconcerting calls by umpires.

As with my Mitered Square Afghan , the goal is to complete the blanket by the end of the World Series.

As you may know, we now have a part-time home near where I grew up in the Midwest. I’m not used to living in the suburbs where other people can see me. In California, the only people who might get weirded out by my photographing socks are the deer and foxes and newts. Well, and my husband at first, but he got over it after a while. Here in the suburbs, I can only guess at what my new neighbors might think as I diligently pose socks around the yard. They haven’t come over to introduce themselves yet. Maybe this is why. (“The lady who used to live here was so…. normal”, they lament to each other, peering into our yard.)

Nonetheless, here are the socks I created using Sockotta Sock yarn and some leftover Regia 4-ply. I adore knitting with jacquard-patterned yarn like the Sockotta. The ever-changing colors keep the knitting entertaining.

I find the Sock Wizard software a handy tool for making socks. Once I do a swatch, it’s easy to plug the gauge into the software and come up with a pattern that is exactly the size I’m looking for. I’ve used it often enough to know that I always need to make the heel length longer. And I always put some sort of ribbing into the leg. Even with a good cuff, the legs fall down when I knit straight stockinette.

I’m not sure I’m crazy about the afterthought heel. What is your favorite heel?

I haven’t tried Sockotta sock yarn before. But when I saw these pretty spring colors, I just had to start a pair. I think all my projects should be color coordinated with my garden.

At long last I’ve finished the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. It soared to the top of my list of favorite patterns to knit. Eunny Jang’s genius in the cable design made it delightful. I kept wondering, “How did she think of that?” as I went along. I just love the long stretch of ribbing on the sleeves and bottom of the sweater as well.

I thoroughly enjoy the yarn. It’s Rowan’s Felted Tweed - the DK version. I was worried that the yarn would be scratchy, but I wore the sweater with just a shell on underneath and it was fine.  It’s the perfect spring sweater – light and just warm enough for cool mornings.

The color I used, Shade 141 Whisper, has been discontinued, but Rowan has come out with a bunch of other enticing colors. I can’t wait to use one of them to make another of these cardigans!

For the beautiful yarn that Adrienne spun, I turned to one of my all-time favorite patterns from Candi Jensen’s book Knit Scarves. The Woven Knit pattern uses slipped stitches to form a fabric that looks, well, woven.

I like both sides of this scarf. And need I say more about the colors? Adrienne tells me the roving is called “Alpine”, by Mountain Colors.

Many thanks to my amazing nephew Neil for taking these photos. If like photography, you can check out Neil’s Flickr photostream. You’re in for a treat!

Adrienne can be found on Ravelry as Truffle. I feel lucky to have such a talented, kind and interesting friend as a co-conspirator in all things knitterly!

There’s nothing like a good challenge to spice up life! I had a blast (in panicky sort of way) participating in Ravelry’s knitting mayhem otherwise known as Ravelympics 2010. Thousands of knitters make projects with the idea of casting on during the Olympics’ opening ceremony and being done by the closing ceremony. Knitters can choose different events to “compete” in – hats, afghans, sweaters or dozens of other categories.

I, of course, had to choose the Designer Biathlon. I love the biathlon events in the real Olympics, and I love to design. But here was the challenge -  to cast on, design a project, write the pattern for it, photograph it, have it tech edited, and then publish it during the allotted time. Whew!

Here’s the result!

I chose Cascade 220 as the yarn, since it comes in so many great colors. The braided cable cuff is made first. I include instructions for grafting stitches together in pattern. When the hat is complete, the cuff is folded up. The circumference is about 20″, which will fit most women.

You may download the pattern for free here: