Selfish knitting

Once I finished up all the Christmas knitting (on December 27th, but who's judging, right?) I fell headlong into a morass of long-overdue selfish knitting. This is the second of four things that I've knit for myself in the last few weeks, but I'm putting it out here first because the first things I knit for myself, while lovely and much appreciated, are also somewhat boring. There you have it.

Here is my new selfish hat:


This hat all began when JoAnna pointed me in the direction of Looped Yarn Works in Dupont Circle. I was all hot and bothered to get yarn for my slippers, so I made a break for it while Himself and the girls were buying out Kramerbooks and walked into yarn nirvana. It's a lovely shop, up a set of stairs, with fabulous light and lots and lots of pretties.

I managed to focus long enough to get some Cascade 220 for the clogs,

but then I looked up and saw a basket full of little jewels of yarn. A pile of this yarn, in fact.

I. Was. Smitten. So this particular ball came away with me, and I knew from that moment it was going to be a hat.


It's knit from the top down, with a yarn over eyelet pattern that spirals down to the ribbing band. This particular yarn only has 127 yards per ball, so it's not quite as slouchy as I wanted it to be. But still...it's lovely and soft and scrummy, the colors are divine, and it did a good job keeping my head warm yesterday on our 2 hour dog walk along the river.

However, I do want to see how it looks with a bit more depth to it, so as soon as I get the shop update online tomorrow, and pack up some samples for Fibreholics UK, I'm going to spin up some singles and see if I can't get a version I like better. Stay tuned for pattern...

ETA: If you're interested, I'm offering 10% off any fiber purchase if you can guess the inspiration behind tomorrow's new colorways. Head over to this Ravelry thread and post your guesses!

Goals for 2013

Happy New Year everyone! We have finally made it back from our whirlwind tour of the Eastern Seaboard in winter, and I can attest to the fact that the Gulf Stream is alive and well and keeping the UK balmy (as evidenced by the fact that we woke up in Maine yesterday it was 10 degrees Fahrenheit, and when we landed in London this morning it was 10 degrees Celsius...). I had a lovely holiday, full of family and friends and food and lots and lots of sitting around knitting, reading books and drinking coffee. Now, I'm in the throes of jetlag and while it's getting on towards 10 pm here in London, my body thinks it's just about cocktail time and maybe I should grab a glass of wine or something. Bah!

So I have an ongoing list of knitting goals that are slowly taking shape in my mind, and now seems as good a time as any to start getting them down on (virtual) paper.

1. I have a group of four sweater designs floating around in my head, loosely grouped around the points of the compass, and inspired by four places in Great Britain. Three of these are cabled (dear God!) and one is inspired by a Penny Straker gansey I knit when I was in college. I have the yarn for all four, and I just need to sit down and get going on them. I'm leaning towards self-publishing these as a collection in the fall, which is going to mean cracking down and getting my butt in gear on the knitting. Because, as we all know, cables are so fast to work...
2. I have a shawl design to submit to Knitty for their fall issue - if it isn't accepted, it will become one of four shawl designs also inspired by the UK. I've got one of the others nailed down, and will need to dream up a couple more. These babies won't be finished until next year I'm thinking...
3. Stripey sportweight sweater, probably also for Knitty First Fall.
4. Spin and knit a couple of sweaters from the sweater lots of Hello Yarn fiber taking up valuable stash space. I've started on one of the sweater lots, and I know the sweater I'm going to knit with one of the others, but haven't started the spinning on that one yet.
5. More weaving.

Hmmm...seems like a lot of designing, doesn't it? If I'm being completely honest, there's two more shawl designs and a couple of other accessory type ideas floating around my head, so that would extend the list. I'm feeling like I need to get a massive whiteboard to hang in my office, just to keep all these things straight. It would probably also be a grand help if I managed to get my ideas a bit more in tune with the submission schedules of various magazines, but that remains a long-term goal.

What about you? Do you make resolutions or goals for the new year for your knitting? Or your spinning? Or just life in general? I find I'm really good at making lists and putting things down on paper with the best of intentions. But then the paper gets buried under something else, and I forget about the general plan, or I loose focus and get distracted by something else. So this year, I think that my goals can be narrowed down to "Follow Through". I'm looking forward to seeing how that goes.

Travelling Hats are on the road

I am very pleased to announce that, after must consternation and fretting on my part, my new collection of designs is now available. Meet Travelling Hats,

This is a group of five hat patterns, all available seperately, or in a single pdf download. All of the designs are inspired by cities that we've visited in the last three and a half years while we've been in the UK. There's the Delhi Beanie,

the Copenhagen Hat (which can be done in two colors or in a knit-purl textured motif),

the double-thickness, lined-with-alpaca-goodness Boston Toque,

a slouchy, reverse-stockinette cap inspired by the London Eye,

and finally, a lace-knitting-on-every-round beret worked in worsted weight yarn, inspired by the cafes of Paris.

The hats are all sized from baby-adult large (specific measurements are included on the Ravelry pages for each pattern), and are all pretty quick, covering a wide range of difficulties. There really is something for everyone. Most of them use less the 200 yds of yarn (ranging from DK to aran weight), and can be whipped up in a couple of evenings, so they're perfect for last minute holiday gifts.

The Ravelry page for the collection is here, and I'll be adding the patterns to my Patterns for Sale page in the next little while, if you're interested. Individual patterns are $5.00 each, or you can buy the e-book, with all five patterns and additional schematics, for $20.00.

I need to thank my fabulous test knitters, once again from the Ravelry Free Pattern Testers group, who this time around were many and eagle-eyed. In alphabetical order: BrindleviewFarm, catdragon, CatSaysKnit, CrafteeWitch, GiddyCrafter, iammo, JenAus0524, jhandmade, kimkat, KnitterBeth, Kokolat, kyorei, LionesseM, maineknitter1975, MandyzMoon, maperkei, Momto3boys, neddhead, peggylaine, Ravelling, sandyvar, shortbusmom, siro2, SnookiesOz, TosaGirl, yofed and yukachan08.

And I have to thank Alli, and Devil and Boo for their enthusiastic (and not-so) modelling of these babies. Mwah!

Still here...

I have no pictures for you today, I'm afraid. Events have conspired against me to prevent my being home in the daylight hours with reasonable light. However, Things Are Happening.

• There has been pattern editing. Much editing. Progress is being made.
• There has been dyeing. In fact, there is dyeing right now. All is fun with the pretty colors.
• There has been running. And working. And lunches with departing office mates, etc. Busy work stuff.
• Tonight, there will be swatching. Because, although it's not December (which means I don't actually have to cast on the girls' Christmas sweaters yet), it would probably be a good idea if I figured out what the crap I'm going to do with the stitch counts and such before Saturday. You know, so I can knit them eventually...

That's about it. Maybe pictures on Friday. Keep your fingers crossed.

Incoming ebook!

At long last, I'm am thrilled to announce that my new eBook, Travelling Hats, is almost ready for release, just in time for last minute Christmas knitting!

This eBook includes five patterns (all of which will also be available individually), ranging in size from baby to adult. Each hat is inspired by a city that I've visited since moving to the UK almost 4 years ago, and each one has a special story that goes along with it. The inspirational cities are Paris, Copenhagen, Delhi, London and my hometown, Boston.

Details: Yarn weights range from DK to aran (heavy worsted), and there's a variety of techniques to choose from: lace, colorwork, twisted stitches. Hat styles include beret, slouchy hairbag (as Brenda Dayne refers to them), ski hat with tassel, simple beanie and a double-thickness toque with a lining for really cold days. All are fairly quick knits - I think the longest prototype took me under a week of not very serious time investment, and the testers got them finished off in between 5-8 hours, for the most part. So if you are in need of a bunch of quick knits for holiday presents, this may be just the ticket!

I'm hoping to get the final edits done this week and have it up by the beginning of December. I'll post here, on Twitter, and on the Ravelry group with further updates as they develop.

So. Excited. To. Get. This. Out!