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: Zienna

Over a year ago, my cousin was having a baby. I asked what kind of stuffed animal she would like for her little girl. She said something jungle-ly. And so, Zienna was born.

This softie is made for babies.

The high-contrast black and white grabs their attention, but the slightly antique tones of the Berocco Remix yarn, keep it looking classic. The zebra is seamlessly knit from head to tail, meaning that it can stand up to all those babies can dish out. I know my little one is a fan.

The pattern is available from the shop or Ravelry for $5 USD

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.

Introducing: Latitude

My final design in the Strata and Line Collection is Latitude, a cozy and simple sweater coat.

The coat is worked from the top down with round yoke shaping and a bit of waist shaping. The buttonholes are worked with the rest of the body, while the oversized collar and cuffs are picked up and worked after in the striped pattern (though you could always knit separately and seam on if desired).

The sample features Quince & Co's Puffin yarn in a range of seaglass blues. This fluffy single-ply yarn makes the coat super warm and cuddly.

As a sweater coat, Latitude was designed to be worn with approximately 2" positive ease. The modeled shots show the coat with about 4" of ease. For comparison here's a shot or two of me wearing it over a 38.5 week baby bump and 1-2" of negative ease.

Latitude is available for download as a solo pattern for $6.00 USD or can be purchased from my Ravelry store with my other two designs from the collection, Longitude and Lamina for a discounted $12 (with the coupon code LINE).

Latitude $6 USD

If you want to queue it up on Ravelry, the collection can be found here.

Introducing: Longitude

Longitude was the first design in the collection I came up with and the last one I actually made.

Long before Bristol came to me with the idea for a stripe-themed collection, I had the idea for a short-row shaped striped bonnet banging around in my head as by product of a zebra I had knit for my cousin. (Incidentally, that’s another pattern that I intend to release soonish).

In making that zebra I learned a few things about the possibilities of short rows and thought it would make a great hat. Add in some i-cord edging and a couple of pom-poms and you’re all set!

The yarn for the sample features the wonderfully subtle Berroco Black Tweed in Narragansett (Navy Blue) and Clover Honey (off-white). I’d wanted to try this yarn out for a while, so when it showed up in my LYS’s clearance bin in colors I loved, it seemed like fate.

It’s a wonderfully soft yarn, but my one caveat is that I has no issues knitting with it, but the yarn did tend to break when I tried to use it to tie off the center of the pom-poms, so I ended up using a sturdier thread for that purpose.

Longitude is available for download as a solo pattern for $4.00 USD or can be purchased from my Ravelry store with my other two designs from the collection, Latitude and Lamina for a discounted $12 with the coupon code LINE.

Longitude $4 USD

If you want to queue it up on Ravelry, the collection can be found here.

Introducing: Lamina

For the first of three posts about my designs for the Strata and Line Collection, I decided to start with Lamina.

I wanted Lamina to be one a simple, very wearable sweater . The original idea was do to an all-over stripe (below), but after some design tweaking, I went with a solid body and striped sleeves and collar.

The decision to keep the body solid makes for a slightly interesting, though not difficult construction.

At its most basic, Lamina is knit in the round from bottom up with saddle-shoulder shaping and some gentle waist shaping. The saddles themselves are knit back and forth and seamed from underarm to shoulder and then rejoined to work the cowl neck in the round. Because the stripes are contained to the arms, it’s also a relatively quick knit.

It was also a huge pleasure to work with the yarn on this pattern. The yarn is the Woolen Rabbit’s  Grace in Myrtle and Straw. Grace is a beautiful merino yarn that comes in sizable 525 yard skeins. There are few yarns I think I’ve enjoyed knitting with more – it was just so pretty, lovely to work with, and the colors really make this design pop. Tea Leaves/Forever in Blue Jeans would be another fabulous color combo. I just picked up some more Woolen Rabbit yarn at a recent local fiber event so I can work more with her yarns.

Lamina is available for download as a solo pattern for $6.00 USD or can be purchased from my Ravelry store with my other two designs from the collection, Latitude and Longitude for a discounted $12 with the coupon code LINE.

Lamina

$6 USD

If you want to queue it up on Ravelry, the collection can be found here.

Introducing: Strata and Line

I'm pleased to announce the release of my first collaboration with Bristol Ivy: Strata and Line

a collection of four sweaters and three accessories exploring stripes in all their varieties.

Click here to view a lookbook of the collection or you can download the lookbook PDF here.

The patterns are available for purchase individually on Ravelry for $6 USD/Sweater, $4 USD/Accessory or you can use the following codes to get the complete individual designer collections for $12:

For the four Bristol Ivy patterns: STRATA

For my three patterns: LINE

I hope you enjoy the collection and I'll be posting more about the inspiration behind my patterns in the coming days!

Introducing the Knitscene Featured Designer Collection!!

So on Tuesday, something very exciting happened for me. A national magazine hit the newstands with my name on the cover (spelled right and everything)!! Way back in March I got a email from Lisa Shroyer, the Knitscene editor, asking if I would be interested in doing a collection as their featured designer for the Winter issue.

Would I?! And in the Winter issue none the less?? I think I thought about it for a minute before I said yes, yes and yes!

After about a week, I sent Lisa a packet of about six design proposals ranging from the simple to the complex and included four sweaters and two accessories, plus one more accessory I had submitted to magazine through the regular process. (Some of the "rejects" will likely show up as designs in the future too). We edited it down to three items, which I though was doable in the approximately 8-week knitting period.

Some yarn was ordered and fortunately some of it matched my swatching yarn, so I was able to get a head start on the math. As soon as my first yarn arrived, I start knitting like a crazy person. (Fortunately no repetitive stress injuries were obtained in the process of making this collection.) In end, we ended up with three designs that I'm very proud of.

Willamette Coat

The Willamette Coat (they named it after my alma mater) is my personal favorite in the collection. It's an idea that's been banging around in my head for over a year, and I was glad to finally get it out into reality. The big feature hear is the asymmetrically buttoned front with the dramatic cable panel and the matching cabled cuffs. I think the sample might have been a bit small on the model, because it can button (for example, dress form it's a size 35" sample on a 33" bust), but I'd recommend a minimum of 2" positive ease.

The sample was knit in Berroco Vintage Chunky an acrylic/wool blend that is probably my favorite machine-washable yarn ever. It comes in a bunch of great colors, is fairly inexpensive, and doesn't feel plastic-y at all (though the ends are a bit harder to weave in). I'm actually on my third project with this yarn now, that's how much I like it. If you're looking to sub, I'd recommend any bulky weight wool that shows cables well.

Toulouse Pullover

The Toulouse Pullover has been the big hit on Ravelry so far. Knitscene did some lovely boho-chic styling on this one, that I think has really attracted people to it. Which is funny as I considered it a much more 50s-style garment in my head when I was making it, but that just shows the versatility and timelessness of the bow-neck I suppose.

This item is probably the easiest knit in the whole collection. After you knit the collar/ties back and forth the rest is a super simple raglan with no body shaping. Again, I'm not sure on the model's size, but for comparison it's a size 34 3/4" on a 33" dress form in the center photo.

The yarn for this sample is Classic Elite's Mountain Top Vista, an organic worsted weight wool. It's got a nice hint of halo, surprisingly drapey, and is definitely sheepy. In the projects that are already (!) popping up on Ravelry a lot of people are subbing in Berrocco's Ultra Alpaca, which would be a really good choice too. Anything with a bit of drape and halo.

Marketa Mitts

This is the only design in the collection I named myself, and like the mag says, they were inspired by Mareketa Iglova's character in once. They're your basic fingerless mitts, knit in reverse stockinette with a tulip-esque insert panel that's a combo of a bunch of sts.

This sample was knit in Shibui Baby Alpaca DK - a super dreamy yarn to knit with, though I'm not sure I'd call it a DK (these were knit on size 2/ 2.75 needles). The could easily be done in a fingering weight, and something with less halo would show off the stitch pattern a bit more clearly.

Where can I get these?

Right now the magazine is on newstands, or can be purchased as a digital magazine.  There are several other lovely patterns in there, as well as a 2-page profile on me.

If you want to favorite or queue these up, here are the links for the Willamette Coat, Toulouse Pullover, and Marketa Mitts.

A Giveaway!

I've also got one signed copy of the magazine, along with a skein of Shibui Baby Alpaca DK in Artichoke (like the sample) to make your own pair of Marketa Mitts to give away. If you're interested, simply leave a comment below and I'll use a random number generator to pick a winner on Tuesday.

Introducing: Sakura

Back in February, I set out to design my idea of the perfect spring sweater and the Sakura cardigan is result. Delicate, airy, and sweetly pink without being saccharine, Sakura was inspired by my visit to the Washington D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival in the spring of 2011.

Knit in Quince's springy sport-weight Chickadee yarn, Sakura features elbow-length sleeves, an a-line silhouette and a petal-like lace scallops along the button band and collar.

Sakura is knit in one-piece from the top down and utilizes round yoke shaping.

Sakura is written for sizes 31 ½ (33 ¼, 35, 37 ½, 39 ½, 40 ½, 43, 44 ½, 47, 48 ¾, 51, 53 ¼)”  and uses 905 - 1810 yards  of Quince & Co. Chickadee in Dogwood or another sport-weight yarn.

Sakura is available for download on Quince & Co. for $6 USD or you can queue it up on Ravelry.

 PS – Did you know about my mailing list? You’ll receive notification about all new patterns as well as special discount codes and offers.  Sign up Now!

All modeled photos © Carrie Bostick Hoge courtesy of Quince & Co.

Introducing: Westwood

Now that I completed my squealing with excitement over being physically published, I thought I'd share some of the details and design inspiration behind the Westwood Blouse.

I was initially attracted the Knitscene call for submission when I came across the "southern comfort" prompt. My brain started thinking of hanging moss and Gone with the Wind and I ended up looking at a bunch of photos of corset covers, which, along with a tank I had from Banana Republic,  served as the starting point for the design.

I was specifically drawn to the blousey shape and sometimes embellished necklines.  I ended up choosing this very simple openwork (two-sided lace) pattern and starting thinking about construction.

This top couldn't be easier to knit. It's knit in the round to the armholes and then split at the armhole to work the lace and then seamed at the shoulders into a boatneck. Even if you've never knit lace before, the stitch pattern  is an easy two-row/ four-stitch repeat that gives a lot of visual bang, for a small amount of complexity buck.

The swatches above where done in Quince & Co's Lark, but the final design was done in Kollage Yarns Riveting Sport, a recycled denim yarn. I'm always a bit wary about recycled yarn, but I found this to be lovely to work with. It's not splitty and very light.

I will note that the yarn is machine washable/dryable, but my gauge information was based on a swatch/sample that was hand washed and blocked flat, so if you have plans to machine wash/dry your final garment, do so with your swatch and adjust needle size as necessary.

The magazine is currently on newstands or is available as a digital download from the Interweave store. Eventually the pattern will be available as a stand-alone download in the Interweave store (presumably after the magazine is off shelves).

You can also queue it up on Ravelry.