It must be autumn

Because people are wearing sweaters now, and it's not doing good things for my startitis.

Devil and I went to the story hour at our local library today, and I don't remember what we heard because I was so taken with two sweaters there. The first was a heathery pink number on an adorable little girl who was probably 20 months old. It was a standard yoked cardigan, with one button at the very top, seed stitch hems/neck/front bands, and a bunch of eyelet rows in the yoke to give it a bit of interest. I scrounged in my bag for a pen and a receipt and made a quick sketch, probably scaring the crap out of my neighboring caretaker. Turns out that this looks like the exact pattern*, so I won't have to reinvent the wheel. Score!

The other sweater was a grown up one - another cardigan with seed stitch accents, but this one had two buttons, patch pockets on the front, a shirt collar and was knit up in a drapey chocolate brown yarn that looked incredible. I immediately thought of this yarn,

which my mother found somewhere in Maine and sent me several years ago. I've got a whole bunch of it, so when I start swatching this evening, I might whip up some of that and see how it goes. It feels pretty crunchy in the skein, but I'll do up a couple of swatches and abuse them in inventive ways.

Maybe when I go back to work I'll stop with the crazy designing inspiration. I can only hope, because otherwise it's going to put a huge dent on my ability to concentrate on other things!

* I don't think I've mentioned recently that Ravelry kicks arse. Took a millisecond to find this pattern.

The Green Jersey pattern now available

I can't believe I forgot to post this on Saturday, but the final Tour de France anklet pattern is now available for download.

download now

This version, like the other three, will be available for free until July 26th, 2009, when the Tour ends. Although since I'm going to be on vacation, it's quite likely that they'll be available in the test versions until the following weekend.

Stats: sized from XS-XL (8-9 inches around the foot, unstretched), 1-2 balls Cascade Fixation, 7.5 stitches/12 rows per inch on US 1/2.25 mm needles.

Please download, knit, and enjoy while you watch Cav and Thor duke it out! Let me know (see sidebar for email address or pm me on Ravelry - I'm porpoise) if there are any problems with the pattern!

*Photo credit goes to Elica/knituitist, who was my test knitter on this one.

Maillot Jaune test pattern available

Just in time for a wicked first mountain stage, the Maillot Jaune pattern is now available:

download now

This version, like the other two, will be available for free until July 26th, 2009, when the Tour ends.

Stats: sized from XS-XL (8-9 inches around the foot, unstretched), 1-2 balls Cascade Fixation, 7.5 stitches/12 rows per inch on US 1/2.25 mm needles.

Please download, knit, and enjoy while you cheer on your favorite riders! Let me know (see sidebar for email address or pm me on Ravelry - I'm porpoise) if there are any problems with the pattern!

FO: Flip

When last we saw this item, it was May 8th, 2008, and I was halfway through. It has actually been finished for more then a year, but has been stuck in the back of Devil's drawer wadded in to a ball. I guess knit skirts, even when done in a wool-cotton blend, are not suitable for Houston weather.

However, it is quite a bit cooler in London*, so last week when I had the opportunity to pick out her clothes for her, I choose this skirt, and she decided she quite liked it.

Pattern: Flip, by me, but it's not really a pattern so much as a knit tube with an edging added to the bottom.
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Sockotta (45% cotton/40% superwash wool/15% nylon), colorway #364
Needles: US 2/2.75 mm
Gauge: 7 st/in, row gauge?
Comments: From my notes on this project, I see that I got 8 sts/in with US 1.5s so I choose US 2s to get 7 sts/inch. I cast on 150 stitches and did a picot hemmed top edge by knitting for about an inch (8 rows), then working k2tog, yo all the way around. After the yo row I knit straight, although about halfway back down the width of the waist band I did another k2tog, yo to make a hole for a drawstring to go through.

I then knit straight, increasing 7 sts/row approximately every inch (every 7 rows, how's that for symmetry?). I knit until it looked long enough, then spent several days a little while charting the edging. I finally went with a leaf edging from BW #2, and since it was worked perpendicular to the rest of the skirt, didn't require a specific number of stitches around the bottom.

Some while later, there it was:

The nice thing about this "pattern" is that it can be done with any yarn and any needle size you want. Just figure out your gauge, cast on the number of stitches needed for the waist and get going. Increase approximately 1 inches worth of stitches every inch or so, and keep going until you get the desired length. Finish with edging or not as desired.

Finishing: I sewed the picot hem closed, including an elastic waistband to help keep it up. Then I threaded through a lovely pink ribbon to finish it off. The ribbon came out the first time it was worn and is who knows where in our as-yet-to-be unpacked stuff. Eventually I'll find it and put it back, but an i-cord drawstring would also work well.

If you end up making one of these little skirts for a small one in your life, please send me a picture or let me know . I'd love to see them!

* This may qualify as the year's grossest understatment.

Lanterne Rouge pattern available

My able test knitter, Carroll, has taken some wonderful pictures of the Lanterne Rouge socks, and now that I'm back from vacation I've finished putting the pattern together. It's now available for download in the test version. This version, like the King of the Mountains, will be available for free until July 26th, 2009, when the Tour ends.

Stats: sized from XS-XL (8-9 inches around the foot, unstretched), 1-2 balls Cascade Fixation, 7.5 stitches/12 rows per inch on US 1/2.25 mm needles.

Please download, knit, and enjoy! Let me know (see sidebar for email address or pm me on Ravelry - I'm porpoise) if there are any problems with the pattern, and send me your pictures when you have them done!

download now

* Photo credit to carrollb (Ravelry), who was my intrepid test knitter.