Ta Da! New Patterns!

I finally finished up some pattern design work this week. Some of these have been a really long time coming. I am glad to have them finished and hope people will like the patterns. You can find them all for sale on my web site www.denisesneedleworks.com along with lots of other great patterns, needles and some fun notions. I am working on adding more products to the site so keep it bookmarked and check back to see what's new!

Jessie's Blanket $5.00




Tutti Fruity Socks $6.00




Magic Family Socks $6.00-- This is the first of a group of "Denise's Favorites" patterns that I plan to do. They will be easy to follow patterns for some of the things that I have knit repeatedly and often teach others how to make.

Wild Horses Couldn't Drag Me Away

You know that saying, right? Well, in this case the Wild Blue Horses dragged me away to knit this fabulous 5-sided cap. Here is the designer's picture of it:


And here is my progress so far. It is going pretty well, I think. The colors look different in my photo because of different lighting but they are the same colors as the original.

The design is by Cynthia Wasner of Norsk Needlework. She also has a sweater and mittens with this design and several other sets that are also quite fun. I have been trying to get all of her patterns listed on my web site but it is going a bit slowly. I did get this pattern up though and you can find it here. Watch for more of her designs to be posted soon.

The cap is made of Rauma Finullgarn and there are 3 blues and white in it. Two of the sides have horses facing to the front and the other 3 sides are flowers. It takes some flipping of the graphs as you work around but they are easy to follow and it is fun to see the design develop.

Hopefully, I can stick with this project and get it done quickly. There are lots of UFOs (Un-Finished Objects) that need my attention soon. Our temperatures are dropping and winter is in the air. I have a daughter who is in Alaska and they are already well below zero so she needs more warm woolies. Another daughter is traveling with a theatrical show around the US and Canada. She spent the past couple of years in the South US where it is warm all year so there will be some warm knits on her Christmas list too I'm sure. Lots of knitting to keep me busy!

Cowls

Cowls seem to be a very popular item with knitters on Ravelry at least. I think they are a great idea. They keep your neck warm without the dangling tails of a scarf. I found a pattern there recently that I wanted to try.

This is the Willow Cowl, a free Ravelry download, if you are a member there. If you aren't a member go to ravelry.com and sign up! It's free. Ravelry is a wonderful resource for knitters and crocheters.I used 2 skeins of Mini Mochi a very soft sock weight yarn. This cowl has a nice flare at the bottom so it lays over the shoulders just a bit to fill in that spot that your shirt leaves open to the chill. Each of the lace sections creates a roll that lays down in nice folds. It is long enough to pull up over your ears if needed. I will be giving this one away so those other 2 skeins are blues and purples that are waiting to be made into another of these cowls for me!

I also had an opportunity to test knit a pattern for another designer. This Tabitha Cowl is the result of that. We were trying to find out what it would look like in a variegated yarn. The yarn is hand dyed sock weight yarn from Knitivity.com. Ray dyes some beautiful yarns! Take a look at what he has and if you order something, tell him Denise's Needleworks sent you!As you can see, the cables disappear in the colors but I think it is very pretty anyway. The designer is also working on fingerless mitts and a hat to match. This is another Ravelry pattern. Sorry, there is no other way to get it.

I look happy here modeling it but you wouldn't believe how hot and humid it was when we went outside to take the pictures!!! I'm sure it will feel good in January when the weather is not so warm here!

Start-itis

I have it bad......I started another project. No, the pink AH103 mittens are not finished yet.

These are going to be the Annemor #15 gloves from Terri Shea's book Selbuvotter. The yarn is Rauma Finullgarn colors #438 and 4705.

People have asked if they can substitute Finullgarn in these patterns for the Rauma Gammelserie that is suggested. The 2 yarns are slightly different in gauge. It is looking like the hand may be a little big for me. I think I could have knit it slightly tighter. The tension above the thumb opening seems looser than the lower part of the hand. Maybe I should start the second one and try knitting it a bit tighter before I finish all the fingers.

Sneak Peek

Do you like knee-hi socks? Cables, lace, ribs, stranded 2-color designs like the Norwegain star or even entrelac? You will love this book!

We are working on the translation and samples for a new book to be released at the TNNA trade show in June. Those who came to the Arnhild's Knitting Studio February retreat have already had a chance to see the book.

This is the 4th book in the LVS series. Bunad Strømper og Luer. Strømper is stocking and luer is hat. Bunad is the traditional national costumes of the different regions of Norway. There are 37 patterns in this book from all over Norway. Most are stockings but there are some interesting hats as well. And just so you know, most of these stockings say "Herre" which means they are for the men, not that we ladies will let that stop us from knitting them for ourselves!

The stocking I am making is #3 from Sogn. It has an all-over cable design. Click on the picture for a closer look if you like. This one is made with Rauma 2-ply Gammelserie.

The smaller ball in the top picture is a 1-ply Spælsaugarn from Rauma which we will be carrying. It will be used in the heels and toes along with the Gammelserie for reinforcement.

We will have lots of other new patterns available at the TNNA show too. I will have them for sale on my web site as soon after the show as I can.

The other LVS books and many other beautiful Norwegian patterns and yarns to go with them are all available at my web site www.denisesneedleworks.com

Berries Cardigan Pattern is ready!

Thanks to Terri Shea's beautiful design and finishing work this is a gorgeous sweater. I knit the body and sleeves for her and she did the rest. Now the pattern is ready so you can make your own!

Here is the link to the pattern ordering information on Terri's web site spinningwheel.net

The yarn is Rauma Finullgarn colors #487, 488 and 417
Gauge: 30 sts to 4" over stranded stockinette

Such a beautiful sweater! I think I would like to make one for myself. Terri gets to keep this one. It wasn't my size. :)

Seeing Stars!

I am finally to the top of the shoulders! Look at those beautiful Norwegain Stars!!

I really enjoy the geometric shapes of typical Norwegian designs. Squares, diamonds, parallelograms, triangles. The small dot pattern is called "lice" because...well...it looks sort of like lice I guess. I think it looks like snowflakes. Actually, the whole thing looks like snow to me. The big snowflakes of a heavy, wet snow and the fine flakes of a very dry, light snow. Okay, enough talk of snow. That time is coming too soon! I am sure we will get plenty of that type of white stuff here in Iowa.

It looks a bit bunched up at the top because of the decreases I did for the neckline. It will have a V-neck when I get it cut open and put the bands on.

So, now I should be starting the sleeves which have the same design. I was going to pick Arnhild's brain about sleeve shaping before she left for the weekend but the time got away from us and we didn't get to sit down and do that. I think I will wait until she gets back to get them started.

I am working on these socks instead for the weekend. Maybe I can get them finished up. I am on the foot section which is plain stockinette stitch. That always goes fast for me.

Soctoberfest

This month is Socktoberfest again. Everyone is knitting socks for the winter. Or at least I and a bunch of sock enthusiasts are. I have joined a group of people who are trying to finish up the second sock of a pair. There are 3 on my list that I would really like to get finished soon. Winter is coming, the days are getting cooler and I have already started wearing my wool socks some. Of course today is not one of those days -- it is 77 degrees!

My take-along knitting project lately has been this Magi Sock. I finally finished it the other day and I now am started on the second sock. This basic sock has a ribbed cuff and stockinette foot. There is a free pattern on my web site called Magi Socks named for the yarn that they are made of. I tried to give easy to understand instructions so even a beginner could make these.
I used Magi yarn and size 2 needles and get a gauge of about 8.5 sts/inch. I think I would like to try this yarn with a smaller needle next time to see what it looks like. This is already knit tighter than they suggested gauge on the yarn wrapper but it still seems just a little bit loose. I like my socks to have a nice tight knit so they wear well. Magi yarn is from Rauma in Norway.


This pair is also my own design but the pattern is not completely written yet. This is Tofutsies yarn on size 1 needles. This yarn makes a spiraling stripe design on its own. The individual colors are blended into completely different colors and I feel that you lose the beauty of those colors. You can see that at the top of the sock. I found a stitch pattern that broke up the striping and keeps the colors separated a bit more. I really like how they came out and I will probably write up the pattern when they are finished.

The third pair of socks is one that I think I started last fall, just before Socktoberfest. I am not quite sure why I didn't get them finished then. These are made in Trekking ProNatura Bamboo yarn on size 1 needles. I really like the yarn. I think they will be very comfortable to wear. The pattern is Dublin Bay Socks. It has an easy lace design down the sides of the leg.

So, I have some great small projects and a nice large project to work on right now. Winter is coming I'm sure. It always does here in Iowa! They say it might be a really cold one again like last year and with the cost of fuels all going up it is probably better to wrap ourselves in wool to keep warm instead of turning up the thermostat, right?

Berries Cardigan Sleeve

My camera is broken. It wasn't saving things very well and then ds, Philip, dropped it. Now the flash doesn't work either so the pictures are coming out very dark or over flashed. So no pictures for a while probably until I can get a new camera.

I am working my way down the first sleeve of the Berries Cardigan. This week has been very busy again so I am not getting as far as I would like with this knitting project. Arnhild is not going to be back from Norway until the end of the month so I will still be taking care of her business as I start school with my first grader and transport the older 2 to their activities. I have started making lists of the things that I have to get done each day so I don't forget something important. So far, so good. I have been checking everything off the list except the knitting--oops! I really need to find more time for that!

Moving right along....

Anyone know that song from the Muppet Movie? My older kids loved the Muppets. We have been introducing the younger ones to them through the DVD's. Good wholesome fun!

I feel like this Berries Cardigan had been moving right along until last week. Then I got super busy with preparations for school, meetings that are starting up and a dozen other things that had to be attended to.

The body is finished now!!!! I started on the first sleeve but haven't gotten very far with it yet.

Here is another snippet for you.

Sample Knitting for a New Terri Shea Pattern

So,

Terri Shea asked me to knit a sample sweater for a new line of Selbu inspired patterns she is designing. Her design ideas were so beautiful that I was intrigued.

They will use Finullgarn which is the fingering weight of the Norwegian yarns from Rauma. It makes a nice lightweight sweater. I have fallen in love with all of the Rauma yarns so I couldn't say no.

Saturday a box of yarn arrived on my doorstep. Here is the beginning of the sweater. Isn't it gorgeous?

Barnevott - inside and out

I finally finished the first pair of Selbu mittens. Barnevott #10 in the Selbustrikk book. It is a child size pair of mittens. They just fit my 5 yo.

I have already started on the next pair which is a slightly larger size child's mitten. Again it is in the black and white. That is the traditional colors for the Selbu mittens.




Details of the mittens:

Pattern: Barnevott #10 in Selbustrikk LVS-5 from Rauma

Yarn: Rauma 2tr. Gammelserie Strikkegarn, 50g/160meters, one ball each of #400 and #436

Needles: size US2


I thought you might find it interesting to see the inside of these stranded projects. The floats of yarn show the design in the reverse colors.

Pi shawl--Is it big enough yet?

I am still working on this shawl. I have almost finished with the first 880 yard ball of yarn. I was afraid for a while that the ball would never quit. It seemed to go on forever!

Is it big enough yet to add the edging? When I grab the center and give it a gentle tug it comes just past my shoulder. I wonder how much it might stretch when it is wet?

I have another big ball of this yarn. I know I won't run out of yarn for my border at least!

Pi shawl--A Fresh Start

So, I was knitting along on my shawl, and noticed that the circular needle was giving me much smaller stitches than the double points that I started this with. I kept knitting for a while hoping that it was just my imagination but no, it was true.

Since the beginning was a little shaky anyway, with the ladders that had formed between the needles, I sought out a second opinion from the LYS owner, Rosemary, at the Rose Tree Fiber Shop. We decided that it must have been the fact that this needle was more slippery than the dpns. I have had that happen with heavier yarns before but somehow thought that it wouldn't make that much difference in this lace weight on such small needles.

I wasn't liking the 16 inch circular I was using anyway because it wasn't very flexible. While I was at the shop I bought 16 and a 24 inch circulars in the size 4 so I could restart and hopefully have all of the stitches come out approximately the same size. I used the 2 circular needles to do the cast on and the first few sections. I still have a bit of a ladder between the needles even though I tried to keep those first stitches very tight. I think it is just the yarn!

Now I am almost back to where I was and things are going smoothly.

My knitting bag is packed for vacation. I probably have way more than I will find time to work on I wouldn't want to be sitting there just wishing I had some knitting!

EZ as Pi Shawl

I had a quiet moment today so I decided to get my Pi shawl started. I want to take it along on our vacation next week so I needed to do the fiddly part beforehand.

Bob and Larry helped me keep the needles from slipping through those first wobbly stitches! I had read that you should put it on a pillow and turn the pillow as you go instead of trying to turn the needles around. It worked very well!


When it got big enough, I added another needle. I prefer working with 5 needles rather than 4. Here it is at the 36 stitch stage.

And again at the 72 stitch stage. The ladders at the corners got rather big. I am hoping that with some washing and blocking they will even out more. But if not, this is a learning experience right?

I now have it at 144 stitches and on a 16 inch circular needle so it is ready to go on vacation with me!