March pattern release: Echinoid hat

A few years ago we took a family trip to Paris, and spent one very rainy and wet afternoon in the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. In one exhibit, there was a mezzanine walkway lined with glass cabinets, and I was quite taken with the display of sea urchin shells of every size. My designer brain immediately decided that I needed a sea urchin hat, and thus, Echinoid was born.

This hat is worked in worsted weight yarn (Knit Picks Wool of the Andes for the sample), starting with my new Most Favoritest Cast On Ever™, the tubular cast on. The body of the hat is worked mostly in seed stitch, with five equally spaced columns of knit stitches that mimic the five-fold symmetry of the sea urchin shells.

SKILLS NEEDED
Knitting, purling, increasing and decreasing, tubular cast on (pattern includes links to a video tutorial, but not extensive directions for the cast on)

SIZES
Small (medium, large, extra large), to fit head circumference of up to 18 (20, 22, 24) in/45.5 (51, 56, 61) cm. Actual hat circumference is 16 (18, 20, 22) in/40.5 (45.5, 51, 56) cm.

YARN
Pattern requires approximately 95 (115, 135, 165) yds/87 (105, 123, 151) m worsted weight yarn.


NEEDLES
US 5/3.75 mm and US 6/4.0 mm double pointed needles or 16 in/40 cm circular needle.

GAUGE
20 sts/24 rows per 4 in/10 cm in seed stitch on larger needles.

Pattern includes both written stitch pattern directions and charts.

Echinoid $5.00

Patterns for Sale

**I'M IN THE PROCESS OF REVAMPING THIS SECTION. IN THE MEANTIME, YOU CAN FIND ALL MY PATTERNS ON MY RAVELRY DESIGNER PAGE. THANKS!**

Two Colour shawl V1.0

I haven't been doing a huge amount of spinning recently, and I've been missing it hugely. Last weekend, I took some Pollinator Falkland and my IST Turkish spindle along to a workshop I was teaching, and managed to spindle a few yards over the course of the day. That was enough to break up the log jam, and earlier this week I started spinning the first fiber for my Two Color Shawl V1.0, some Clotted Cream on Shetland.

Clotted Cream Shetland underway!

It's a really lovely spin - not too much going on colorwise, so I don't have to worry about color management, but enough to keep me stopping to look at the subtle tones that are coming out in the yarn. I'm using my Hansen miniSpinner to try and reduce any wear and tear on my legs - in case you've missed my Tweets about it, I'm running the London Marathon on 13 April, and am very wary of using my legs any more then is absolutely necessary! To be fair, I'm pretty sure that treadling a spinning wheel is about as low-impact as you can get, but I'm using the running as an excuse to curl up on the couch with my feet tucked under me and spin away mindlessly. Once this bundle is done, I've got some toned-down YFP Shetland to spin up next, and then I'll have to finally commit to a color combination for the second shawl I plan to do.

There's a few pictures over on the SAL Ravelry thread, but if you're coming across this a bit late and want to join in the fun, we'd love to have you! There are more details on the SAL-KAL page, so don't hesitate. 

Happy spinning!

Rachel

The Other Sweater

There's lots of knitting going on in my world right now, but sadly most of it is not for public consumption (yet). But I do have a project to share that I've been working on in fits and starts for the last few weeks, feeling guilty about it all the time.

This is Automne by Ruth Garcia-Alcantud, from Knit Edge Issue 4, worked in Elann Highland Chunky.The yarn arrived and I cast on for a gauge swatch, I mean sleeve, immediately.

After a fingering weight sweater, working with chunky yarn is instant gratification. I've finsihed both sleeves and made it through the waist shaping, which is done with cable crosses.

This is the Other Sweater because I was cheating on the Unravel sweater with it, and I will continue cheating on my current deadline projects with it whenever I get a chance or can carve out a moment for it. I think the back will get finished this weekend, and then it will be on to the fronts...

A week late, the Denbigh Cowl is released into the wild

It didn't take very long for my resolution about releasing a pattern every month to fall by the wayside, did it? Without further delay, please meet (again) the Denbigh Cowl.

This pattern was originally published in Issue 23 of Knit Now as one of the Designer Challenge projects. The challenge being: you have one ball of Blacker Swan Island DK and one ball of Blacker Breeds Pure Teeswater DK - what do you do?

In this instance, I knit them up into a fun cowl with a dramatic geometric pattern created with slipped stitches and two dramatically contrasting colors. The cowl begins with an i-cord cast on (kind of a pain in the bum, but well worth the effort), and is worked to a depth of about 8.5 in/22 cm before finishing off with a matching i-cord bind off.

The version of the pattern now available also includes a long version, that is approximately 57.5 in/146 cm in circumference, so easily long enough to wear hanging down or wrapped a couple of times for extra warmth.

A note about these two yarns: although both are designated DK weight, they are very very different. If you're going to substitute different yarns, beware! The Swan Island DK is a plush, round, fantastically squishy yarn that is perfect for cuddling up next to your skin. The Pure Teeswater is a much thinner yarn with dramatically less elasticity, owing to the properties of the breed. As a spinner, I was fascinated by how different these yarns worked up together, and I tried to emphasize the characteristics of each. If you are going to substitute, I would recommend maybe using a heavy fingering weight yarn for the CC in place of the Teeswater to get a similar effect. A standard DK should be fine to substitute for the Swan Island DK.

SKILLS NEEDED 
Knitting, purling, knitting in the round, i-cord cast on and bind off, slipped stitch pattern.

SIZES 
Small (large), approximately 20.5 (57.5) in/52 (146) cm in circumference, and 8.5 in/22 cm high.

YARNS 
MC: Blacker Swan Island DK, 120 yds/110 m per 50 gram ball, 1 (2) balls. 
CC: Blacker Breeds Pure Teeswater DK, 120 yds/110 m per 50 gr ball, 1 (2) balls.

This is a great project if you've never worked with two colors before but you want to try - only one color is every used in any one row, and there are only 4 rounds in the entire 12 round repeat that are anything other then straight knitting. 

Denbigh Cowl, $5.00 - click the button below to buy now from Ravelry. The pattern will be delivered to you as a pdf, and you do not have to be a Ravelry member to purchase. Thanks, and enjoy!