middle beach scarf

I'm excited today to release my newest pattern, the Middle Beach scarf.  Knit with 2 skeins of madelinetosh dk, it's a simple combination of knit and purl stitches that creates a reversible fabric.

Two sets of buttons increase the ways in which you can wear the scarf.  Use one set to wear the scarf as a cowl.

Wear the other set to wear it as a wrap around your shoulders.

From now until March 31, 2013, purchase the Middle Beach scarf pattern and receive any other one pattern in my Ravelry shop for 50% off.  The discount will automatically apply.

valentine's day

a little knitted bracelet...

a recycled garland...

 a bookmark for a beloved book...

paper hearts...

and a love.

  Happy Valentine's Day!

a temporary thaw

We had two days of respite from what has been a very cold winter so far.  The first day of the thaw was foggy and a little bit eerie.  I caught these water droplets on a few straggling honeysuckle leaves and the  yarn I used to support the plant.

And like that, the thaw is over, and the ice is back.  But I am dreaming of spring and longer days.  And I'm knitting for spring with a yarn called Frost.  It's exactly the color of the water droplets.  Fresh and promising.

Just recently, I've found the love for fingering weight yarn.  I purchased some Malabrigo Sock yarn last summer, hoping to make my oldest a poncho.  I cast on, even threw in some beading, but an inch or two into the raglan increases I realized that I would be knitting this poncho forever.

I didn't even bother to frog what little progress I'd made on the poncho.  I just broke the yarn and started on a pair of socks.  I found this gorgeous pattern -- Absinthe by Sara Morris -- and cast on.  These socks are worked from the toe up.  

I learned Judy's Magic Cast On, which was a little intimidating at first, but it was super easy and fascinating to see how your first two rows magically fit together.  No grafting!

This pair of socks was actually enjoyable to knit.  I bought 40" long size 1 circular needles.  This was a life saver and I can't imagine going back to 4 or 5 dpn's.  I also have learned to read charts in the last year or two.  While I initially fought learning to read charts, I find it much easier to keep track of where I am in a pattern with a chart.  

I wish I had captured some better pictures of these socks before I gifted them to my mom for her birthday, but I'm not as flexible as I used to be.  The combination of cables and lace make for a beautiful pair of socks.

 

briggs street on the beach

Today was a beautiful morning to hit the beach with my knitting.  This is one of my favorite spots in town.  It's so crowded in the summer that I only make it there once or twice all season long.  But now that fall and October are here, I have the place almost all to myself.

I'm working on Briggs Street by Dawn Catanzaro.  What a beautiful, simple pattern.  I'm using some yarns out of my stash that were originally destined for other projects.  But when I saw this project on Ravelry, I abandoned those plans and started right away on my sweater.

I don't hold out much hope for many more beach days this year, although I will be pleasantly surprised and won't complain if there are plenty.  Today is one to hold on to.

Sugar

I'm happy to say that my newest design, Sugar, is included in the latest edition of Petite Purls.

I loved knitting this sweater.  From the open, lacy look, to the yarn, it all came together easily.  

The yoked cardigan features an i-cord cast on and bind off.  I have to admit I was hesitant about including both of these techniques in the design.  I tried an i-cord bind off unsuccessfully two years ago when I was knitting a blanket for my youngest niece.  I gave up after a few tries and just crocheted a neat little edge around the whole thing.

But a more recent try at knitting Paper Dolls by Kate Davies encouraged me to give the i-cord cast on a try.  And it was such a success that I figured it was worth trying the i-cord bind off again.  And this time the technique just made much more sense to me.

Some knitters say that you should let the yarn speak to you and tell you what it wants to be.  As I've followed this advice more recently, I've abandoned more projects than I care to admit because the yarn just isn't the right fit for the pattern I'm working on.  But I think the same thing can be true about techniques.  Sometimes you just have to wait for the right project and what was difficult before is easy now.  It's all about patience I suppose.

I hope you enjoy knitting Sugar as much as I loved designing it!

  

where has the time gone?

Please excuse my months long absence from blogging.  I've missed it!

Last fall I purchased a burnt orange, gorgeous Malabrigo Rios and I didn't know what to do with it.  I tried swatching some patterns and none looked right.   I've been taking to heart the advice that if you let the yarn speak, it will tell you what it wants to be.  So I was very excited to find Malabrigo Book 3 in my local yarn store this winter.  The minute I spotted the Twisted Cowl by Breean Elyse Miller in Book 3, I knew it was the right fit for my Rios.  I have a lot of scarves, so I decided to give this one to a friend.  It just needs a few buttons and then it will be hers.

And I've been carrying this scarf around in my purse for the last month or so.  It's the Jaywalker Scarf pattern by Jody McKinley.  It's for my littlest.  Spring arrived early this year in Maine, so she'll have to wait until next fall to wear it, but she gets excited every time I pull it out of my purse to work on it.  She's my pajama loving, barefoot child, but I hope she'll wear it when it's finally done.

I've also knit two girls' sweater this winter but I've had to keep them hush hush, as they're samples of my newest sweater pattern coming out soon.  I'll post more about it as soon as I can!