Traditional & Modern

Swatching with BBR yarn with my supervisor checking my process. Swatch shown is a test swatch for Mahika.

In addition to Mera, I designed two other patterns for Bijou Basin Ranch — differently styled color work hats: Mahika and Spectacle.  It just absolutely delightful contributing so many designs to their Fall 2010 collections, which debuted at The National Needlearts Association (TNNA) trade show in Columbus this past June. And of course, I surely can’t complain about having to play with such luscious and delectable yarn. All of BBR’s yarns have yak down in it! I’d like a bed made out of yak down, baby llama, superfine baby alpaca, cashmere and qiviut fibers. A girl can dream, right?

Mahika

The color work pattern in Mahika is based on inspiration I found in some of the traditional hand-painted tile work on ancient and historical buildings I’ve seen in my travels. In selecting a name for this design, I wanted to something that embodies the design and its inspiration. I scoured several sources and finally came across “Mahika,” which means earth in Sanskrit. It’s also a Nepalese name, where yak-herding is a trade. Rather appropriate, I think.

Photos in the top row used by permission from, and are © Copyright of Bijou Basin Ranch.

The beanie is worked using the stranded color work technique from the brim to the crown. It uses Lhasa Wilderness, a very quality bamboo and yak blend yarn. The printed pattern is available at your local yarn store. For PDF downloadable patterns, they are currently available through the Bijou Basin Ranch site. If you are on Ravelry and would like to favorite or queue the pattern, click here.

Spectacle

From the more traditional inspiration in Mahika, I moved towards something a little more modern in the patterning for Spectacle. For this beret, I took inspiration from mid-century modern furniture and design. Rather appropriate, I think.

Photos in the top row used by permission from, and are © Copyright of Bijou Basin Ranch.

The beret is worked using the stranded color work technique from the corrugated rib brim to the crown. It uses Himalayan Trails, a merino and yak blend yarn. The printed pattern is available at your local yarn store. For PDF downloadable patterns, they are currently available through the Bijou Basin Ranch site. If you are on Ravelry and would like to favorite or queue the pattern, click here.

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1000 Fabulous Knit Hats

I posted this already in a few of my Ravelry groups, but if you haven’t heard, Annie Modesitt is compiling a book called 1000 Fabulous Knit Hats.  The deadline was originally July 1, BUT she and the publisher have extended the deadline to July 15.

It’s more or less an inspirational book on knit hats plus a contest for people submitting original designs.  However, you do NOT have to submit an original pattern or design.  All you have to do is to submit photos of hats that you’ve knitted whether they are your patterns or someone else’s! So lets get those Morgan submissions in there! I know many people have knitted it already — in fact, according to Ravelry, there are 188 Morgan projects to date!

The submission process is easy — you just have to make sure you fill out the Grant of Rights form, and a form to list and describe your photos, and make sure your photos meet the minimum size requirements.  Then you just upload them to a site. That’s it. Click here for the submission information.

I didn’t find out about the submission/book until about 1 week before the initial deadline, but it was just enough time for me to finish a new design.  (I managed to upload 17 projects and over 50 photos.) Now that there is a little more time, I may just be crazy enough to try and finish some more hats in my new collection, Liberation, just to submit it. Liberation will be a collection of several hats individually named after remarkable women in the 1920s. I’m planning to sell Liberation as a pattern collection and also as individual patterns, in case folks may only one pattern out of the collection of five.

BTW, the publisher of 1000 Fabulous Knit Hats is the same publisher that produced Sweater Surgery, in which I have tons of designs. 😀

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Knitscene & Life

Knitscene Magazine

Knitscene‘s Fall 2009 issue is coming out soon…sometime in the latter half of July, is what a little birdie told me.

I have an accessory item that is supposed to be published in the issue, and I’m quite excited about it.  It’s my first Knitscene pattern, and it’s something that I really like.  I can’t share much until the previews go up or the issue goes live, but I can give you a sneak peek.  I know it’s not much, but I really can’t divulge much more.

ETA: June 30, 2009: You can now preorder your copy of Knitscene Fall here.  My name and pattern is listed.  yay.  The sneak previews won’t be up until 3 weeks from now.

Can I make do without Ns?

I love my laptop. In fact, I’ve loved it so much that many of the lettering on the keypad have rubbed off, and I’ve resorted to painting them on with white nail polish.  I type mostly by muscle memory, but every once in a while I do need to look at the keypad.

My “Enter” and “N” keys have also been popping off. I’ve managed to pop them back each time, except for today.  I couldn’t get the N back on. What’s worse is the little rubber thing also came off, making it near impossible to type (very very slow).  I tried gluing it with some E6000, but I haven’t been able to leave it alone lone enough for the glue to dry. I’ll have to try again later because it’s damned hard trying to type without N, and I’ve been trying to avoid words without it, but it’s not really working.  If I’m unsuccessful with the glue tonight, I’m afraid this is what all my posts, emails and patterns will start looking like:

I’ll have to write everythig without the letter &/or try to thik of words that do’t cotai the letter, but as you ca see, it’s damed ear impossible!  My laptop is a little older ow, but it’s still i great shape ad very usuable.  I hate the thought of havig to get a ew laptop just because I ca’t get oe of the letters to work.  I also hate the thought of havig to try to trasfer all my data & files to a ew computer.

Click to see Flickr Notes on photo

Damned Selfish Cat

The hubs & I have had better sleep since I’ve had to kick out the other cats from our bedroom due to my allergies.  We put up a baby gate at the top of the stairs. Brownie & Maggie are too fat and lack the agility to jump over it. The only one that can is Whitey Coyote, who actually like it that way (she’s the alpha cat).

The improved sleep is not just because of my slightly improved allergies, but largely because the cats like to hog the bed, as I’m sure all you pet owners can relate.  We only have one cat in the bed now, but she stil likes to hog the bed. Poor Mr. CD has been pushed to the edge of the bed and gets closer to the verge of falling off as the night progresses.

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“Morgan” Tutorial Update

After lots of delays and procrastination, I finally updated and added more photos to the Morgan Tutorial page, which you can access through here.

The update includes lots of photos showing you how to work the turning of the crown and the peak (bill) of the hat.

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Another Mermaid

While my sister was here, I gave her the Mermaid I made her. She really like the one that she modeled for me for my self-published leaflet pattern which you can buy here if you don’t have the Luxury One Skein Wonders book. The leaflet pattern has a more sturdy buttonhole construction and has alternative bonus instructions on how to adapt the pattern for a scarf.

As usual, I forgot to take photos of my knits before they leave my possession, so my sister took these for me.

Pattern: Mermaid

From/Designed By: Me! Also published in Luxury One Skein Wonders (Oct. 2008)

Yarn: Punta del Este South American Cotton (from Handicraft Café)

Color: Spaced-Dyed 522

Comments/Modifications: Buttonhole placement was moved up due to my sister’s request for a snugger fit for her skinny neck. I used a vintage button that I found at a specialty shop.

A sample of the leaflet pattern.

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Squeeeee! Published Again, in Interweave Knits Winter 2008!

Usually, as a reader and knitter, I eagerly await the previews of each issue of Interweave Knits.  However, the wait was a little different this time — I’ve been expecting the publication of one of my designs in the Winter 2008 issue. What’s even more exciting is that it’s my first time being published in Interweave Knits, and to have a magazine of such caliber like my design is a definite indescribable high.

This left photo is a copy of the current Interweaves site. There’s also a separate preview url.

My pattern Pfeiffers Falls, holds additional special feelings for me as well. This is something that I would have designed and made for my mother had I caught the knitting bug sooner.  I taught myself to knit a little over 3.5 years ago, when I was taking care her of her during her illness. I managed to make her a couple of (terribly knit) scarves before she passed, but I was not good enough (and had limited access to LYS, and the internet) to even begin to try to knit cables or even a hat.  By the time I learned to knit, mom was already deemed terminal, and her cancer had spread from her uterus to her lungs, but I know she would’ve loved the simple clean look of Pfeiffer Falls and the additional warmth it would’ve provided her icy-cold body due to her extremely acute emaciation and low blood pressure.

Mom requested that, upon her passing, she wanted my sister and I to scatter half of her ashes in a land preserve owned by a Buddhist Temple she practiced at in Texas, and half among the giant redwoods of California.  We decided to scatter her ashes near Pfeiffers Falls, in the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. (Hence the name of my project.)

So, this issue and this pattern is truly near and dear to me, and I’d like to think that each Pfeiffer Falls that is knit will pay some homage to mom’s memory, even if I can’t go visit the Park very often.

The photos below are the bonus photos for the IK Winter issue.

I will include more information about the pattern, its construction and alternative options in a later post.

SQUEEEEEEE!

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Published Again: Luxury One Skein Wonders

Have you seen this book? It’s the third installment in the one skein series by Judith Durant/ Storey Publishing. It’s a fabulous book, and even moreso because yours truly is a contributor in it!!  😉  Call me a dork, I don’t mind, because I think I will always find it exciting to see that my ideas are being validated and that people like them.  yay!

Last year, by the time that I had heard about the submission call for this book, I only had about 2 weeks before the deadline.  So, I rushed, designed and knitted 3 projects for submission. In the end, one submission was rejected and one was lost…the publisher and editor have no idea where the lost submission went and they have no record of it. And ironically, it was the only project that I forgot to take photos of before I mailed it off.  (FYI, the submission process for this book, much like Knitty, required that you submit the finished sample garment and the finished written instructions.) I’m currently contemplating resubmitting the rejected and/or lost submission elsewhere.

Luckily, one of the 3 projects I sent in was selected.  I named the neck warmer Mermaid, because of the scalloped edging created by cables, and the fanning out at each end of the scarf which is exaggerated by the drop stitches.  The sample uses Savannah Bulky a luscious yarn from The Fibre Company with a blend of merino wool, organic cotton, soy and linen. The yarn is a beauty to knit with as it is soft and buttery. I used the same yarn (but in a dk weight) for Morgan.

Model: Anna Kuo of http://www.anaphasestudios.com

For knitters who may want the pattern, but don’t have the book, I’m making the pattern available as an individual leaflet.  The individual pattern includes extra photos, bonus instructions on how to make and adapt the pattern into a scarf, and has a buttonhole construction that’s a little different than what’s in the book.  The buttonhole in the book is a vertical buttonhole (keyhole style), whereas the leaflet features a horizontal buttonhole.  The individual pattern will be sold for only $3.00 on Handicraft Café as either a printed hardcopy or as a pdf download, and it will also be available for sale as a pdf download off my website courtesy of Ravelry (as soon as I get to listing it).

Sample of the leaftlet pattern for "Mermaid", $3

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