city sleek: a free cowl knitting pattern

City sleek is my latest free knitting pattern. I had 2 lonely skeins of Rowan Felted Tweed DK, and no project for them. I have been very much in love with cowls, and cowls that could work for both guys and gals. Garter stitch has been a favorite of mine for a long time: simple and cushy.

The pattern is based on uneven repeats of rows and colors but with a clear progression. Slipped stitches carry the colors up into the next block creating a very fluid, sleek look. 

The systematic progression of the pattern, which is knit in the round, makes you want to knit just one more section. Before you know it you are done with the cowl, and are wearing it!

The pattern is available as a free pattern on Ravelry. To download the free pattern and get knitting city sleek click HERE.

Happy knitting!

it's a guy thing: a free sock pattern

There are a lot of men in my life. Some big and some small! There are a lot of perfect yarns in my life! Malabrigo Sock is one of them. And the Persia colorway leaves me speechless!

 I loved my men so much, and I loved this yarn so much, I had to come up with a super guy sock pattern from baby size to adult. And here it is. Seed stitch and mini baby cables combine to make a masculine, relaxed pattern, playing the subtle changes in color to the perfect tweedy effect. Don't they go great with jeans? And best of all, the stitch pattern makes the socks fun and interesting to knit, making you want to knit just a little more to get to the next repeat, even when the big men in your life are size 13!

The pattern is available as a free pattern on Ravelry. (Just click on the word Ravelry to be brought to the page.) I hope you and your guys enjoy the socks!

Spindle Fun

It has been a lot of fun to spindle spin some merino silk blend in a lovely sage green color.
I spun the singles on my Ashford spindle and then made a 2-ply with the singles.
The result was enough worsted weight delicious yarn to make a slouchy hat for my youngest daughter.

I found spinning this yarn so easy and relaxing, I wanted the knitting to be as effortless. I knit a simple roll brim hat with a slouch. I knit and knit until the hat was long enough to have a slouch, and then decreased drastically.

I am so glad this has become my daughter's favorite hat.

The Gatsby Vest - New Pattern

I am so happy! The Gatsby Vest pattern is ready. I just uploaded it to Ravelry!

The pattern is clearly written, with beautiful pictures highlighting the features of the vest.

A fun contrast between the striped front of the vest, and the solid back.

A comfy fit at the tummy.

Comfortable armholes for fun playing.

Best of all, the pattern comes in sizes 3 months to 6 years!

You can click the "buy now" Ravelry button to purchase it. Happy knitting!

The Gatsby Vest

I always find it hard to write after a long time with no writing. It is not the I have nothing to write about, just that my writing muscle is asleep, and my inner critic quite ready to strike down each and every sentence I write! But I am determined to share with you my progress on my new pattern, the Gatsby Vest. The knitting is done, the testing is done, and the pattern is undergoing its final editing. I find this the hardest stage, checking and rechecking. My favorite moments when I create a new design, are the moments when I get the inspiration for a new project, the actual knitting (I like to knit the project myself first to see how it feels), and then the photographing.

This was a very fun photo shoot with mr. L., my youngest son modeling. We had a lot of fun playing with pine cones, and running around in the playground. He did not seem too puzzled by the camera, as i you can clearly see! The great thing is that it also showed the vest in action.

 The vest covers the back and the tummy perfectly, and it is comfortable, while giving that classic touch I love so much for young children, and it is perfect for a boy. There are so many wonderful patterns out there for girls, but very few for boys. Not to say that it would not work for a girl, but the simplicity of the lines, details, and colors make it a perfect boy garment. After all, the Great Gatsby inspired the vest! One thing I really enjoyed about knitting the vest, was how easy and fast it was to knit. The contrast between the striped front of the vest, and the solid back, kept me entertained, and before I knew it I had a finished vest for mr. L. to enjoy! The fact that it is knitted using a worsted weight has something to do with how fast it knits up...

OK, back to work on the pattern. I will live you with my favorite picture of mr. L. wearing his vest.

The Retro Cardi for Girls

Little Miss SockPixie and I had a wonderful time together this morning, taking pictures of the Retro Cardi for Girls.



As she was putting the cardi on, I found myself giving her the same kind advice my mother had given me. As I was buttoning the cardi, I told her she should always leave a couple buttons open at the neck to show how beautiful it was , and leave the last button at the bottom edge of the cardi open to emphasize the gracefulness of her waist.



Growing up in France, I learned to love the timeless beauty of simple lines, of an understated lace panel, a shoulder, a perfect button, of simple knits.



The sweater is done, but I still have work. The pattern now needs to be sized and edited before I can offer it as a pdf.

Little Knitting...and American Girl Doll Sweater

Little knitting, as in knitting little things, has great merit. It is quick, and uses very little yarn. Instant knitting gratification! One of my favorite forms of "little knitting" is knitting for Little Miss SockPixie's American Girl Dolls.



This little sweater was inspired by a vintage pattern from the 1950s for young girls.
I like its simplicity and the delicate lace pattern along the front sides of the cardigan.



I love knitting doll sweaters with fine yarns. I had a ball left over of Matchmaker 4ply by Jaeger, in a perfect vintage garnet color.

I fiddled a bit, in particular with the button band. I wanted something that would sit flat, and not pull, so I chose a folded edge, knitted as you go, with a separating slipped stitch to create a clean fold. Picking the buttons was fun too. I wanted them to be really small to match the scale of the doll better.



This was fun! And the best part of it all, is that Little Miss SockPixie loves it! Let me know if you would like me to offer it as a pattern? (I would change the recommended yarn as Matchmaker is discontinued.)

Plying Brings Me One Step Closer to Knitting

I just finished plying the first skein of the red Shetland roving for the Floral Vest. I chose a simple worsted 2 ply .



I think the color is even more striking in its final form, the heathery tones just glow.

Knitting the vest is going to be pure bliss!

EZ Thumb Trick

I finally took the time to work the magical trick Elizabeth Zimmermann "unvented" to make thumbs into mittens after the fact.

The great thing about the trick is that you just knit the mittens kind of thoughtlessly, without worrying about a thumb, and only add it once you are finished with the knitting of the body of the mitten. You do not even need to hold a few stitches with a waste yarn! All you need to do the trick are the mittens, scissors, your DPTs, and strong nerves if you are thumb trick virgin!



Place the hand of the recipient in the mitten and ask them to bend their thumb. With one of you DPTS lift a stitch where the thumb bends, roughly in the middle of the joint in order to mark it. The recipient can remove their hand.



Next, with sharp scissors, and after having taken a deep breath, snip the marked stitch.



Next, using a DPT gently pull the cut yarn through, releasing live stitches on the left and on the right of the snipped stitch.
I like to use the DPT, as it exerts less pull on the fabric, and seems to minimize the risk of loosing stitches.



The total number of live stitches you need to release will depend on your gauge, and the size of the hands of the recipient.(I released a total of 10.)



Take a first DPT and insert it through 1/2 of the released stitches, with a second DPT, pick up and knit 3 stitches , place about 1/2 of the remaining live stitches on the same needle, then on the 3rd DPT, place the last of the live stitches, and then pick up and knit 3 stitches.



You are all set to start knitting the thumb, just join the yarn, and knit away!

I hope this will inspire you to try knitting mittens the EZ way!

Shetland

Today I bring you Shetland! The Shetland fiber is the second fiber I decided to spin after reading the great book In Sheep's Clothing.
I picked the most luscious, richest, sensuous chocolate color that Shetland sheep come in.



Isn't nature amazing? As a color lover, I am simply in awe...

I spun the beautiful roving over the fold into singles, and then plied two singles to create a light worsted weight, which I think has become my favorite weight.
I love the density of the Shetland fiber. Shetland has more body than Romney, less crimp, and therefore seems to be less fluffy, and a little rounder. I find it easy to spin, fluid is a word that comes to mind.



I was holding the yarn in my hands, pondering what I should knit, when Mr. SockPixie said: "Hum, nice, I would like socks..." One quick smile was enough to convince me...I grabbed my Us 5 dpts and took my new yarn to knit night. In my bag was some leftover Romney from the mittens, so I decided to stripes the socks. Mr. SockPixie deserves a little whimsy!



This is the progress I made at knit night, and during homeschooling today. If I can finish the sock tonight I might be able to reclaim the needles to do EZ's thumb trick on the mittens. Wouldn't some mitten surgery make a fun post!

Romney Mitts

I was at a bookstore in Cambridge the other day, and found a great book In Sheep's Clothing, a Handspinner's Guide to Wool, by Nola and Jane Fournier. I got home and started reading...So many sheep... I thought wouldn't it be fun to spin yarn and knit projects from as many kinds of sheep as possible?

So here we are with candidate number 1: the Romney Sheep.



I wont bore you with a dry technical description, I will just say, that like so many great things, The Romney Sheep came from England, and a British colony, New Zealand improved the breed to produce a lustrous fiber with a tight crimp with a medium staple length of 5 to 7 inches, making it an ideal spinning fiber for the beginner. Best of all, the Romney comes in beautiful natural colors.

I purchased 16 ounces of silver Romney roving.



I hugged and smelled the soft, fuzzy roving. I set out to spin it over the fold using a short forward draw for a semi-worsted. (But between you, and me, the fiber just told me what it wanted me to do!)

I plied 2 singles together to get a light worsted yarn. I love how the lustre of the fiber expresses itself gently in the spun yarn and still has a soft halo.



I never spin with a project in mind. I prefer to let the fiber, and its yarn tell me what they want to be. I had barely spun 4 oz, that I heard the yarn calling for mitts.

But which Romney mitts? When in doubt, I always turn to one of my favorite EZ books, the Knitter's Almanac. In the Mittens for Next Winter chapter, I went right to the mitered mittens. I did a quick gauge, 5 stitches/inch, not a problem. If EZ has taught us one thing it is to work with the yarn. I changed the total number of stithes to fit my plans, grabbed my mini chop stitcks in US 5 and started knitting this delightfully mindless pattern thnumbless, as my plan is to do EZ's thumb trick (snip a stitch, unravel a few stitches, pick up, and knit a thumb.)

Before I knew it, mitten 1 was done.



I can hear the word embroidery, there, can't you?

Here is what is waiting for me tonight, fun with my other mitt!

Ishbel Ma Belle

Ishbel ( which I nicknamed Ishbel Ma Belle)is finished and ready to become my mother's Christmas present. I had so much fun wih this project. Spinning was a delight the Merino roving, and knitting Ysolda's wonderfully feminine pattern proved to be equally pleasurable.



I am of course fond of the rich orange color. I dyed the roving using chemical dyes in a dyepot, which gave me quite a bit of color uniformity, but at the same time preserved gentle variations.



I can hardly wait to give it to my Mom! I'll let you know what she says...