Pattern Roll-Call

Pattern Roll-Call: Perfect, Absolutely Perfect!

By Stephanie

I know two little girls who are mad-crazy-keen about ballet. They begin dancing the moment they wake up, and they dance all through their day, and they don’t stop dancing until they go to bed. Actually, they probably don’t stop dancing until they fall asleep — I am quite certain they lie in the dark and practice their tondues under the bedsheets until sleep finally steals them away.

.

And they would wear their ballet shoes every single day if they could. But they’re not allowed, because the ballet shoes get lost — absent-mindedly set down on the wrong shelf or accidentally kicked under the sofa or sinking slowly to the bottom of the toybox — and are nowhere to be found on ballet day. And so those most-beloved shoes get secreted safely away after each class and the disappointed girls must instead practice their dancing in their socks. It’s not at all ballerina-like!

.

I’m always on the lookout to bring you great patterns that would make the most of single skeins of SpaceCadet yarn, and when I came across the Open House Socks by Kate Atherley, technical editor of Knitty and knitting editor of A Needle Pulling Thread, I fell in love them! They’re sweet, romantic, and cheeky all at once — and, as a bonus, each pair takes only about half a skein of yarn. They’d make a great quick-knit holiday gift — perfect for padding around the house on cold winter days. I looked at them and thought, they make me want to… dance!

© Kate Atherley, Used with Permission

.

Wait… Make me want to dance?!? I thought immediately about those two little dancers… I could knit them ballet shoes! I could knit them lovely ballet shoes so they could dance all week whilst their real ballet shoes were safely tucked away. There could be no better Christmas present for them on Earth!

In the dyeing studio, I sat and thought for a while about the perfect colour. I could do them in the standard ballet-shoe pink-beige but… well, while these two are budding ballerinas, they are also little girls who love all the stuff that little girls everywhere love: sparkly and bright and fancy and pink. Plain ballet shoes would never do — if they were going to have custom knit ballet slippers, then they would have them in a pink to thrill their hearts. And I began mixing the dyes…

.

I emailed Kate and told her my plan, and she wrote straight back and very kindly offered to help me adjust the pattern to suit these much smaller feet. What a lovely thing to do!

So once I’ve done my gauge swatch and worked out some calculations, I will cast on with this wonderful, crazy pink. And then I can’t wait to share with you my new works in progress!

.

But shhhh… mind no-one tells the girls, ok?

Pattern Roll-Call: Warm Feet for Cold Days

By Stephanie

There are some designers whom I admire hugely, and some whom I just want to sit and absorb knitting knowledge from, and some whose stars have shot so high into the knitsphere that I’d be awed just to meet them.  But there is only one designer that I genuinely like so much that I want to sit down and a pour a nice cup of tea, and spend half an hour knitting with her each week.  And… I do!

© Brenda Dayne, Used with Permission

.

Brenda Dayne produces Cast-On, my absolute favourite knitting podcast and the most relaxing half-hour in my week.  She is (as I was until a couple of years ago) an American expat living in Britain and, in between her interesting and entertaining pieces about knitting and spinning and dyeing, she also paints pictures of her home in west Wales that take me straight there.  Cast-On is an absolute delight.

And even if I weren’t a fan of Brenda’s, I’d want to show you this design for the name alone, but her Brother Amos Hellfire Lace Socks are worth knitting not just because of Brenda, and not just because of the name (Hellfire..? Lace..? How did those two words end up side-by-side?!?) but because it is a gorgeous design.  I love the way the lace flickers up the leg (what better to keep your feet warm as winter sets in?), and I know the stitch pattern would be interesting to knit without being too daunting.

And they’re beautiful, aren’t they?  Just beautiful!

© Brenda Dayne, Used with Permission

These socks call for a yarn that lives up to their fiery name, and I think they’d would really… (ahem!)… glow in the warm colours of Ball of Fire or Sunset Over a Stormy Sea.  Don’t you?

Celeste yarn in Ball of Fire
Celeste yarn in Sunset Over a Stormy Sea

Pattern Roll-Call: Get Ready, Get Set…

By Stephanie

Now, let me just stop here and give you fair warning that I am about to tell you that the holidays are around the corner.

I know, I know.  That last post — the one right there below this one — has jack-o-lanterns in it and I know it feels waaaay too early to be even thinking about breaking out the holiday decorations and baking cookies and wrapping presents and…   But we are a special breed, you and I.  We are fiberistas.  We don’t just rush out to the stores and buy our gifts at the last minute.  We make gifts — each gift unique, each stitch fashioned with love for those people we care about most in the world, and who understand just what a hand-made gift means.

And that kind of gift-giving takes time…  which is why, for the likes of you and me, the holidays really are right around the corner!  So to get your gift-giving ideas flowing over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to share some great patterns for quick holiday gifts.

And let’s start with something from Kate Gilbert, who designed the incredibly popular Clapotis scarf (with 16,395 projects listed on Ravelry!).  But my eye was caught instead by her beautiful Marina Piccola socks.  I just love the way the simple pattern so perfectly evokes ripples across a water’s surface.  And I think it looks like a quick but really interesting knit for holiday gift-giving.

© Kate Gilbert, Used with Permission

You know this pattern would really shine in a rich colourway such as Desert Wine, but I’d love to see these how these socks came out in a more variegated yarn such as DayLilies or Plumberry.  I think the combination could be quite stunning.

Stella Yarn in Desert Wine
Celeste Yarn in DayLilies
Celeste Yarn in Plumberry

Dyeing for a New Design

By Stephanie

Do you remember the fabulous crochet patterns I featured last month?  Do you remember this shawl by Sharon Silverman?

© Sharon Silverman, Used with Permission

.

Sharon is the author of Tunisian Crochet: The Look of Knitting with the Ease of Crocheting and the creator of some really beautiful patterns.  She and I got talking, and it turns out she admired my yarns as much as I admired her designs.  And I was so flattered when she asked if I would create a colourway for her to use in a new design!

(I think this is the thing that I like most about the fiber arts community: the way that people work together — and really want to work together — to create beautiful things.  Fiber people are great people.)

I began to think about colours — I wanted to give her something really special to work with.  In my mind, I was seeing something lovely to drape around the shoulders, over a beautiful evening dress…  something as soft as mist…

.

Sharon sent me a sneak peak at the design this week, and it’s as light and as gorgeous as the yarn it’s made for.  I can’t share the design with you yet, but I can give you a quick glimpse of the yarn.

This is Evening Fog, a delicate mix of soft greys and the lightest misty blue, in Luna Laceweight 80% merino/20% silk yarn.  And, if you like it, it will be in the shop in time for the pattern’s release.

Pattern Roll-Call: Crochet is Magic

By Stephanie

I am a knitter and, to me, knitting is second nature.  I knit without looking, I knit whilst reading and, when I’m really tired but I just have to finish one more row, I knit with my eyes closed.   And I know that this looks like magic to non-knitters but, to me, knitting is easy.

The real magic is crochet.  Crochet is knitting’s mysterious twin… It amazes me, it baffles me!   I tried to teach myself to crochet once — I managed a little strip of fabric (that with the addition of some knitted flowers became quite a nice choker), but I quickly realised that it’s crocheters who make the real magic happen.  Here are three patterns that really inspire me to pick up a hook and try my hand at crochet again.

.

Tusculum Cowl by Robyn Chachula

© Robyn Chachula, Used with Permission

Here is a crochet at its most spellbinding.  I love the drama of Robyn Chachula‘s unusual cowl, the way the chain-stitched edging forms a striking cobweb that can be worn gathered up around the neck or draped dramatically across the body.  I’d love to see this done in SpaceCadet’s Astrid yarn in a rich, deep colourway such as Desert Wine to bring a dash of glamour to a new winter coat.

.

Sonata Shawl by Sharon Silverman

© Sharon Silverman, Used with Permission

Sharon Silverman conjured up something truly special when she designed this spectacular shawl.  The magic is in the changing stitch pattern that creates distinct bands of lacy texture from top to bottom.  Worked in lace weight yarn, this would look fresh and light in SpaceCadet’s Luna Laceweight in Old Money, or darkly dramatic in Luna Laceweight in Plum Wine.

.

Fan Stitch Hat by Brittany Tyler

© Brittany Tyler, Used with Permission

The magic of Brittany Tyler‘s charming little hat in is the way it gathers up the colours of varigated yarns and distributes them in little pools across the crocheted fabric.  Quirky and sweet with a flower detail, it would bring out the striking colours of SpaceCadet’s Astrid yarn in Sleep Deep or look cute as a button in Sailor’s Warning.

Pattern Roll-Call: Something Gorgeous Around Your Shoulders

By Stephanie

Y’know, even though it’s still August and that usually means high temperatures and hot days, the weather has taken on a slightly cooler tinge this week, and that’s got me thinking about autumn.  I’ve been day-dreaming about turning leaves, that crisp smell in the air, and lovely lovely autumn knitting.  Is there anything better?  And the first thing you need as the weather starts to change is something gorgeous to drape around you to keep that chill at bay.

.

Abby by Amy Singer

©Amy Singer, Used by Permission

I’m crazy about cowls.  They’re so easy — there’s no tying, no arranging, no fussing or adjusting…  they just pop over your head and perfectly fill up the space around the top of a jacket to keep you toasty warm.  Abby by Amy Singer has a beautifully simple stitch pattern that will work perfectly with any yarn from a Semi-Solid to a Wildly Varigated.  I think it would look amazing knitted up in the gentle blues and purples of Mountain Mist.

.

Mirth by Stefanie Japel

©Stefanie Japel, Used by Permission

The lace pattern on Mirth is gorgeous, just gorgeous — what could look more elegant draped around your shoulders on a cool autumn day?  But the real beauty of Stefanie Japel‘s pattern is that it’s written in both text and charts, and the size of the shawl can customised by completing as many chart repeats as the knitter likes.  The allover lace pattern will really shine in a Gently Varigated yarn such as Pink Autumn or Desert Wine.

.

Eventide by Laura Nelkin

©Laura Nelkin, Used by Permission

Now here is a pattern that makes you want to grab that crazy-gorgeous yarn that’s been calling your name and just cast on.  The long criss-cross floats of Laura Nelkin‘s Eventide really showcase the colours a variegated yarn such as the cool blue/green/purples of Midnight Swim or the gentle pinks and olive-greens of Bramble Rose.  And the beautiful openwork creates a pattern that is perfect for those not-too-warm, not-too-cool days that autumn brings.

.

So, yeah, I know…  it’s still August.  And the sun in still high in the sky and we’re all still wearing our summer clothes.  But one of these days, the weather is going to change suddenly and summer will be gone…  And now is the perfect time to cast on so that, when that happens, you’ll have something gorgeous to see in the autumn.