January
22
I loved making this baby hat from the very popular Poppy pattern, designed by Justine Turner and kindly offered for free on Ravelry. The great thing about this pattern is its versatility. It is written for several weights of yarn, and several sizes. I adore sport weight, so used some of my Lorna’s Laces Sportmate yarn in the Cranberry color. As this was a gift for a baby shower, I picked the 16″ size, figuring the baby will grow into it soon. The pattern was easy, clever, and lots of fun to make!
A little sunflower button was the just-right accent:
Resources:
Justine’s blog: Just Jussi
Poppy pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/poppy-11
Lorna’s Laces Sportmate: http://www.lornaslaces.net/sportmate.html
January
10
One of the best things about participating in the Downton Abbey Mystery KAL is getting to use a new fiber from an old favorite yarn company, Lorna’s Laces. For the KAL, I’m using the suggested yarn, Sportmate. As I read the ball band, I was a little surprised by the contents: “70% superwash Merino and 30% Outlast viscose.” Never having heard of Outlast, I just had to look it up. As it turns out I’m working on a 1900′s inspired pattern using a fiber developed for NASA! Here’s what the Outlast web site has to say about it: “Outlast® technology, originally developed for NASA, utilizes phase change materials (PCM) that absorb, store and release heat for optimal thermal comfort.” What would Lady Violet have to say about that? Leave a comment with what you think she’d say about a newfangled fiber!
Sportmate is a very well-behave yarn, easy to knit with and creating nice, even stitches. There is a slight halo to it. Here’s the project KAL project so far, through Clue #1.
July
21
I’ve had fun raiding my sock yarn stash for the Santa Fe Mitts I’m designing. I settled on Lorna’s Laces for the oranges, blues and greens. The deep reddish color is named “Manzanita” – the arid climate plant with the lovely red stems. Perfect!
Regia 4-Ply provides the heathered background colors. I’m going for the look of rocks and tree bark.
After a few more adjustments, and my tech editor finding all the mistakes that I’m sure aren’t there when I read the pattern, and the Santa Fe Mitts pattern will be ready. It’ll be sized for men, in mens’ medium and large.
October
30
This is where it all started. I suppose I could have put an end to it at the first hint that I was going to get obsessed. Again. But I ignored that inner voice which cried “Stop while you can!”
Three skeins of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock yarn. That’s all it took. (Plus a visit from my friend Mary, who has so much creativity that apparently she left some behind for me when she went back to Ohio.)
I didn’t mean to design a sock. I certainly didn’t mean to design anything in fair isle. But the shmooey yarn with bright spring colors drew me in and demanded I grab some needles. A design snuck into my mind as if it were a gremlin….
With the help of the Stitch & Motif Maker software, here’s how the swatching process evolved for Mary’s Garden Socks.
A lot of trail and error, ripping out, starting over, and here is the final product:
At a later date I’ll post more on the Stitch & Motif Maker, but you can imagine how helpful it is to be able to plan this sort of design out on a just-the-right-proportion grid.
If you like this sock you can find it my Original Designs in my Pattern Store. I find knitting it to be a nice dose of fair isle fun, and I hope you do to!
