Monster Pocket - Kindle Cover

It seems like everyone I know got a Kindle this Christmas. On Christmas eve morning, I realized that we had forgotten to get my sister a cover to go with her Kindle. Generally, for me, Christmas eve is not the time to be adding projects to the queue for the next day. Usually it involves coffee, tears, and frantically knitting the projects to be given later that evening.

This year I am proud to say that I kept it in check and finished all the knitting and blocking by noon on December 24. One reasonable knitted gift for each of my nieces and nephews. See...












Leaving me time to contemplate a quick Kindle cover. I took a quick dive in the stash and found some soft and squishy super bulky yarn. I knit it up on US size 13 needles to make a dense fabric to better cushion everything. In about an hour, it was ready for buttons. That's when my daughter said, "Mama, it's so cool that it looks like a monster!" Yep, I guess it kinda does.




































The pattern is available for free!

Happy Holidays Sale!

Brisk and Moose's Argyle Vest are 25% off now through January 1, 2011. Happy Holidays!

Brisk

Brisk - Ravelry link.










This shawlette / scarf is work from the top-down in one piece, ending with charming ruffle. This versatile piece will be just the thing when the weather turns brisk.

















At just under 500 yards of worsted weight yarn, size 9 needles, and completely seamless, this shawl is a quick knit. There's probably even time to whip one up by the holidays!

















The pattern is available here for $3.50

Well, crap.

I am knitting Honey Baby by Anne Hanson. It is gorgeous and fun to knit. It is a gift for some really special friends who live far away. Their adorable new baby was born Wednesday evening. I still have 20 rounds left, that near 800 stitches each, and then a knitted on edging. I am hoping to finish by Tuesday and ship it Thursday after blocking. The gift will then arrive before the baby is even 2 weeks old.

That sounds doable, right? Right? Not crazy? Not I-can't-do-anything-not-even-make-dinner crazy right? I really want to avoid that because my kids really don't need to eat takeout that many nights in a row. So, tell me people, am I looking at a slice of crazy pie right about now?

Knitcircus Gifts Issue

Knitcircus has published it's first ever Gifts Issue.























And I was lucky enough to have my latest pattern included!
Serendipity Earband





























It's a quick project knit with Classic Elite Ariosa and US size 10 needles. One skein each of two colors will make two earbands with the colors reversed. The body of the band is knit, but the pattern comes with instructions for both a knitted flower and edging, and crocheted flower and edging. You can mix and match!

The pattern is available for $3.50 or you can purchase the whole collection for $6.50. It is chock full of gorgeous gifts that will make your holiday knitting a snap.

You can find the design on Ravelry here.

*all photos are copyright Knitcircus Magazine.

I love blocking!

Zetor Scarf
Used about 3/4 of a skein of Zephyr on size 6 needles. It was given to Mag's teacher today as a retirement gift. Lovely, straight-forward pattern. I just might have to try this one again.

Sparrow

Sparrow by Marie Grace Smith

Easy, relaxing, fast knit. I knit it in about a week, but then got distracted and it languished with just one side seam left to finish. I used Plymouth's Baby Boutique with was just a pleasure to knit with. I didn't get gauge, so I knit the size 4, but followed the pattern for a 10 for length.

Maggie loves it. I'm already thinking about another. Maybe some leftover Knitpicks Shine Sport or Plymouth Jeanee? I've got a roadtrip to Texas coming up in a few weeks and I need to plan out my car knitting. 18 hours each way, plus a week vacation in between. In the meantime, I've been knocking out some old UFO's. It feels really good to get them done (or frogged as the case may be). Anyway, I'll have a bunch of new things to show soon.

Happy knitting!

Designs on Knit Picks IDP

As of today, two of my designs are live on Knit Picks IDP!

Spring Sprouts Tank Top - Knit in Knit Picks Shine Sport

Butterfly Dream Mittens - Knit in Knit Picks Swish DK

It's been a absolute pleasure to work with Stacey at Knit Picks. I think this is a really interesting opportunity for designers, and I've always been a big fan of Knit Picks. I'm curious to see how it will work for me. I certainly have high hopes.

So...go...check'em out!

Go check'em out!

48 Hours

I am smitten. Head over heels in love with my new project. Sparrow by Marie Grace Designs.

I've been doing a lot of stealth knitting as well as working on some old UFO's. Unfortunately, none of them are relaxing. Lots of charts and notes. This sweet new design was just what I was looking for. I picked up some yarn (Baby Boutique by Plymouth) on Saturday and cast on right at my lys. The yarn is a luscious springy microfiber/nylon blend. I'm happiest with the fabric it produces on a US #7, necessitating some tweaking to fit my gauge to the pattern. In the end I am knitting the size 4 for width and somewhere between the 8 and 10 for length.

It's been just about 48 hours now and the back is done. I'm did some short row shaping for the shoulders and then I'll do a 3 needle bind off. I love the texture on the upper half of the top. I think I just may be done with this before the end of the week.

Hello-o-o-o-o?

Well...it's been a while. I never intended to stay away for so long, but life has a way of changing even the best of intentions, I guess.

I'm still finishing up the Christmas knitting. Don't laugh! I'm almost done. Just one more sock for my sister and half a scarf for my dad and I'm home free. Then I'm itching to tackle a couple of UFO's. My goal is to have the sock by the end of the day tomorrow and the scarf by the end of the weekend.

On the design front, I've got a new design for a head scarf / ear warmer. I think it's super cute, but I've sold it to my lys exclusively until September. If you're local, you can check it out at Gene Ann's Yarns.

I've been thinking a lot about the Moose's Argyle Vest pattern and I've decided that as of February 1, 2010, I am going to change it to a pay pattern. It's been free for more than year and I want to give anyone in progress a chance to make sure they have a good copy. It will still be available as a pdf download. I realize that this decision will make some people unhappy, and I'm sorry for that. Unfortunately, times are hard for everyone right now, including my family. I hope to release more free patterns in the future, but for now, the Cabled Thank You Socks are and will remain free.