Colorwork Cravings

It's rare these days that I get to knit something from someone else's pattern, but whenever I do, it's such a joy that I kick myself for not doing it more often.

Case in point, my most recently finished knit - the Ebba pullover by Diana Walla.

I had eyed the pattern back when it came out in September 2015 (how time flies!) and then I had some time this winter with no knitting deadlines and thought- you know what, let's do it! 

So I went to my LYS - picked up some colors, swatched, went back to LYS to exchange a color when the first combo didn't work out, swatched again, cut my first steek, and then merrily knitted for a month. I completely enjoyed knitting this and I love the finished project. Wearing it twice a week until it's too warm is totally acceptable, right? 

But more than anything, I love that it re-triggered that colorwork-loving portion in my brain. Back in the day, I had a lot of fun designing some colorwork pieces like Zoetrope, but then for one reason or another, I stopped. But  I'm inspired now, and I maybe bought a crazy amount of yarn because I do nothing in halves, apparently, so more colorwork to come!!

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Introducing: Prairie Wife

Sometimes, a yarn and a design just come together like toast and jam. This, for me, is one of those designs. Earlier this year I was contacted by Shalimar Yarns to see if I'd like to do some work with their yarn. A week or so later, I had a sweater's worth of Breathless DK in Silver Sage to work with. This is a ridiculously beautiful yarn, and an utter joy to work with, so I wanted to do it justice with the design. I ended doing way more swatching than usual to get the drape just right. 

I've long been collecting images of pioneer women with the intent of doing some designs around it, and that came to the fore here. I've been especailly entranced by the work of South Dakota painter Harvey Dunn, and the western painting of N.C. Wyeth. Prairie Wife was specifically influenced by Wyeth's The Homesteaders (left) and Dunn's The Prairie is My Garden (right). 

I wanted to capture the feel of these images, do homage to the grace and strength of these pioneer women,  as well as make some nods to western fashion. So I started off the design with the yoke and back box pleat, which is borrowed from Western/cowboy shirts, but made it knitterly and feminine by the inclusion of a floral-inspired lace motif. The pleats and loose-knit fabric keeps its breezy and swingy, while 3/4 sleeve keep your hands free for work. 

I don't know if I'm allowed to say this about my own patterns, but I adore the way this one turned out, which was even better than it originally was in my head. 

Prairie Wife is worked in pieces from the bottom up, with the collar and button bands picked up and worked after seaming. The shaping is all done with the pleats, so the body is simple back and forth Stockinette stitch, until you get to the armsceye/yoke. 

Again, a big thanks to Bristol Ivy for the lovely photos (complete with cows!) and Martha Wissing for the technical editing. 

Pattern Details 

Sizes

Bust Circumference: 33¼ (34 ¾, 36 ¼, 39 ¼, 44 ½, 46 ¼, 50, 53 ¾)”/ 84.5 (88.5, 92, 99.5, 113, 117.5, 127, 136.5)cm. To be worn with 2-3”/5-8 cm of positive ease.

Sample knit in size 39 ¼, with approximately 2”/5 cm of positive ease. (Wondering about ease?- Check this post out!)

Yarn

4 (4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6) skeins Shalimar Yarns Breathless DK in Silver Sage [75% Merino, 15% Cashmere, 10% Silk]; 270 yds (247 m) per 141g or approximately 1042 (1088, 1145, 1217, 1307, 1336, 1422, 1489) yards of DK weight yarn.

Purchase

Prairie Wife is available for purchase for $7.00 USD via the following methods:

Ravelry  //  Ms. Cleaver Creations  //  Love Knitting (coming soon)

Really love swingy A-line sweaters? FOR ONE WEEK ONLY - get both Prairie Wife and Lady Heartrose for $10.50 (Discount automatically applied to Ravelry purchases. Already have Lady Heartrose? The discount will still apply! Offer good until 10/8/15)

Ravelry  //  Ms. Cleaver Creations

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Introducing: Hemingway

It's August, but that doesn't mean its not sweater season at Ms. Cleaver Creations!

Hot on the heels of the Cormac release, I'm pleased to present, not one, but two new sweaters - Hemingway: Men's and Women's. Or as I call them, Him-ingway and Her-ingway. 

This design can be credited to power of the corkboard squares in my studio space. Sometime, a long time ago (before July 2012 at least), I had the idea of trying to design a pattern that used knit and purl stitches to make a plaid fabric. I was pretty happy with the way the swatch turned out, but I never quite figured out what to do with it. So it stayed pinned there on my corkboard for ages.  

Then I started playing around with a simple, pieced shawl-collar men's pullover. And thought, hey, that plaid thing just might work! The folks at Twist Collective seemed to agree, so much so that they asked to do a women's version too. I panicked briefly, said yes, and then started looking for my first ever sample knitter. 

The main differences between the two are that the women's has waist shaping and is generally shorter in the body, sleeves, and armhole depth, as well as narrower in the shoulders. The men's is straight through the waist (easy to lengthen for the extra-tall fellas) and has a slightly wider collar and ribbing. Both are worked in pieces and seams, with the shawl collar that is picked up and worked after seaming. 

The sample yarn used for both sweaters is Valley Yarn's Northhampton, which I really enjoyed knitting (the men's sweater) with. It's just a super solid 100% wool yarn. I just kep thinking, yeah - this is wool. Its not too itchy, but it's not so soft that you think it won't hold up in a few years and it comes in some really pretty heathered shades. 

If you knit this one up, I'd recommend choosing a size with 2+ inches of positive ease for the best fit. In the photos above the women's has about 4"/10 cm of positive ease and the men's has 2.5"/6 cm positive ease. Not sure what I mean when I'm talking about ease? Check back later this week for a post all about it!

Hemingway is now available for sale through Twist Collective. You can buy each pattern individually for $7.00 USD or get both for $10.00. You can also find the pattern on Ravelry.

All modeled photos courtesy of Twist Collective/Crissy Jarvis. 

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Introducing: Heartrose Cardigan

Introducing the Heartrose Cardigan

A simple seamless cardigan with heart-cabled panels along the button band. Available in sizes newborn to 4T.

Sample shown is in size 12-18 months on tall (then) 11-month-old with sleeves cuffed.

Shortly before the Little Miss was born I picked up two skeins of the Woolen Rabbit's Pearl in woodrose, which eventually became this little cardigan. The color and heart cables are sweetly subtle and the simple shape, short repeats, and small size make this a quick knit.  You could whip one up before Easter!

The pattern uses 1 (1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2) skeins Woolen Rabbit Pearl in Woodrose [80% Superwash Merino, 20% Nylon]; 400 yds [266 m] per 100g or approximately 340 (390, 430, 480, 545, 600, 665) yards of lightweight sock yarn.

Available for $6 USD or queue it up on .

Introducing: Honeymaker

I'm pleased to announce the release of Honeymaker, my newest design for Quince & Co. A feminine take on the traditional aran sweater, with a bee-inspired twist, the Honeymaker pullover features stitch patterns inspired by netting, hives, and, of course, the honeycomb. It also comes with directions to include an optional bee inset into your honeycomb, if you like.

The cables really pop when knit in Quince's Osprey aran-weight yarn, particularly in the less saturated shades, like the faded brick-colored Clay used here. The collar can be worn popped for a face framing effect, or folded for a more-traditional shawl-collar look.

The pattern is knit in the round from the bottom up, with subtle waist shaping. The collar/shoulders are knit back and forth (cabling on right side only) with raglan shaping and the collar ribbing is picked up and knit back and forth for a seamless garment.

The pattern is available for download for $6 USD from the the shop or you can queue it up on Ravelry.

Modeled photos courtesy of Quince & Co.

Sweater #3 - Learning Patience

So I have a backlog of stuff to blog about, and now that MacB has closed, it seems more likely that it will appear on theses pages soon.

I finished this sweater about two weeks ago - the pattern is Dahlia from Knitty. The pattern was designed by a freshman in high school. This puts me to shame, so I decided to design my next sweater myself to show those uppity high schoolers. 

I partly chose this sweater because I though on size 8 needles, it would be a quick knit. Famous last words.

While I did finish the sweater in under 6 weeks, I had to restart this thing 5 times.

Why, you may ask - well first the raglan was an ill-explained Right Lifted Increase/Left Lifted increase. Which when I finally figured out with the help of my knitting circle (hint: when doing the left lifting increase - don't grab the stitch you just made) makes a very very pretty raglan increase line - so it was worth the trouble - but this was an exercise in patience. 

I also ignored the cries of "the thing's too big!" on Ravelry and cast on in my designated size, which by the time I hit the chest portion I realized was huge even though my gauge matched perfectly, so it got unwound for the 5th and final time.I also decided to move up the neckline an inch or so - because it was a tad low for me. After that point, though, the thing was a breeze and I enjoyed teaching myself to do the cables without a needle.

I totally have no patience when it comes to wearing stuff I make, so these photos are all of the unblocked (gasp!) sweater. And perhaps in punishment for my impatience - the blocked version looks about 20% better than it does in the above pictures. Another lesson learned. 

I'd like to say it's too warm to wear it now, it being after Memorial Day and all, but alas it is currently 49°F in Chicago. Le sigh...