Technique: Cable Cast On an Knitted Cast On

This is by far my favorite Cast On for stockinette, garter stitch or even lace. It's extremely easy and you don't need to guesstimate how much yarn you'll need. It creates a strong edge that stretches as much as the knitting above it - at least it does for me. I've come to realize that the stretchyness of Cast Ons and Bind Offs varies very much with the knitter.

You'll need:

• Your working yarn
• Your working needle

 You'll start with a slip knot on your needle.

Then, simply knit into the slip knot.

Slip the new stitch onto left hand needle.

For a knitted cast on, simply continue knitting into the last stitch and slipping the new stitches back on the left hand needle. For a cable cast on, insert your right hand needle between the last two stitches on the left hand needle from front to back - I usually already stick my needle into that space before tightening up the last made stitch - this gives me a nice and even spacing and prevents the Cast On from getting to tight.

Catch yarn and pull through between the stitches, then place it back onto the left hand needle.

Continue casting on like this until you have the required number of stitches on your left hand needle. Here's a pic after a few stitches cast on.

If working flat, this Cast On gives you a right side row for the next row. If working in the round, you're having a wrong side round.

Will - O - Wisp

It's getting colder, the sky is dull and grey, and we all settle to nest in an knit... But it's also the time where leaves are starting to fall, the sun breaks through and you go on a stroll througth the beautiful changing forests. It's not cold enough to take out your warm winter jacket, but cold enough for an additional layer.

Will - O - Wisp is perfect for the changing seasons. It can be worn around your neck, but it's also big enough to wrap around all of yourself for that additional layer of warmth when the wind picks up. And I do mean all of yourself - as the pic shows below, it's even big enough for me. And I'm not a tiny person.

The lacy triangles remind me of the little, playful wisps of wind that swirl around you on those breezy autumn days. Wisp from Dream in Color is a gorgeous laceweight in silk and wool that's just wonderful to snuggle up in. I love the subtle shine of the silk content, and it's just heavenly soft. And yes, the pun is intended.

I'm really happy with this shawl. I'm even tempted to knit it again in a slightly heavier yarn. And by the way, the pattern includes a little variation paragraph - if you follow my blog, you probably already know I love versatility in my patterns.

Klick on the tab designs above to see all of my works.

Kite shawl!

I finished my new Kite Shawl for Stackpole Books! As I've written before, this is my first pattern going to be published in print and I'm really exited about it. There's no need for secrecy, so I'm able to show you a few pictures!

This is me wearing the shawlette in front of my mess workspace

And here's another one that "really" shows the shawlette. It's an extremely easy intarsia design, perfect for beginners, but also a fun knit for more experienced knitters. The pattern includes an inspiration page with possible variations. Also, it can be done with literally any kind of yarn. (perfect stashbuster!)
The current version will stay online on ravelry until the book gets published in February! Check the link to see more versions from other knitters. Full disclosure: There will, of course, be edits for the book. And having a nice patternbook is always nicer. I'm already really curious about the other designs in the book!

And here, for comparison, my original shawlette done in worsted weight yarn! I don't know which one I like better... I love them both!

Kite Shawl goes print!

I'm so exited, my first pattern is going to get published in print! Stackpole books accepted my Universal Kite Shawl/lette for their new Beginner's knitting book "Basic Knitting and Beyond". I'm really exited about this. I've always been quite proud of the Kite Shawl, and I'm so happy that it'll get published in print!

Funny fact: My first pattern ever is also going to be my first published pattern in print.

This is the original Kite shawl, a warm and cushy version of the pattern.

For the book, I'm going to knit a lighter version using the gorgeous Malabrigo sock. Here are my chosen colors in Cote D'Azure and Archangel:

And last but not least, I feel a little bad that I've ignored this blog a little in the last couple of weeks. Sadly, I'm working on two patterns that I can't share here right now, but now I've got another project I can update you with regularly!

Damien Rice

God, I love this guy and his music. He's such a great musician, and there's so much passion in every one of his songs. I love this one especially - I just can't stop listening to it. It's so calm and beautiful at first, and then bam! The second part suddenly is violent and dirty and loud - but full of the same passion that you've heard in the first part. Like two sides of a coin - or two sides of a person. Just listen to it, and you'll know what I mean. But now I won't type more since I'd rather try to figure out how to play this song!

Monogamous knitting + designing? Impossible!

Designing knits totally messed up my way of knitting. I was knitting along happily on one project after another - and I still try to do that. But designing totally messed up my scedule. Now all is sorted in priorities, sceduled, and one project often has to wait a while otn. But that also means I can share my progress on several things! Remeber those socks that I talked about last time? Yeah, they are now in time-out, and will be a while. While pondering about the pattern, I started the long planned reboot of the strings, freaturing armwarmers, and a second color-placement option.

So, this is how far I got with one armwarmer - one is almost done. As you can see, there's quite a lot of shaping - and all happens in the area of the main chart, which is why it looks a little extreme off the arm. But it looks perfectly nice when worn! In case you haven't participated yet - I'm still collecting data on forearm measurements for perfectly fitting armwarmers.

 

And I started on my shawl design for DIC. The darker color, called "Indigo", is stronger variegated than I expected - but I love it. After all, that's the fun of hand-dyed yarns, right?

This is the first wedge knitted up - I'm going sideways, and there will be fun, lacy short row sections in a lighter blue. Can't wait to see how the lighter color will knit up - I'm sure it'll fit great with the Indigo. I'll share more pictures with you as soon as I'm further into the pattern.

And another design in progress - but here, I can show you nothing more than two finished cuffs which I have to rip and reknit. This will be another heavily cabled sock pattern, quite similar to my T-socks; The yarn color is not my first choice, but it has a really nice shine thanks to the silk content. My stepmom requested socks in a dark green or grey to go with her Tracht, and this yarn is the perfect match for that and I'm sure she'll love the color. This pattern is already a special first for me - I had some time today, and this is the first design that I have finished writing completely before cracking into the knit. It's so much easier if you have a similar patten to work from.

Shawl love

Let me start this post by saying: I was never a shawl person.

No, seriously. I never even remotely considered buying a shawl. Then why, you might ask, was your first design ever, of all things possible, a shawl?

Yeah, well, I needed to get deep into knitting to discover how great shawls can be. Things you can knit, you just can't buy. You can't hang around in ravelry as much as I do, and not notice how much people rave about shawls. So I had to try it. And I really loved the art-deco look of all those multi-colored shawl patterns. Thus, my Kite shawl was born. And really, I love it. I wore it every day in winter.

Despite that, a long time, I totally ignored lace shawls. I just didn't see the appeal. Yes, a lot of the lace patterns are really beautiful, but not something I'd wear. But again... you can't hang around ravelry without hearing people rave about lace shawls. So naturally, because I'm a curious person, I had to try, and started swatching. And what you don't see in the pictures - how cushy and nice garter stitch in lace weight actually is! And when I saw that Dream in Color offered to work with designers for their new yarn base wisp, the deal for me was sealed. Looking at the gorgeous DIC colors always inspires me.

Yesterday, my DIC yarn arrived! Look at the gorgeous Wisp - and so soft! Now I only need to choose which one to use for CC. I've already wound the MC.

And this is my current comfort-knit. (Easy, second knit for those times when you're tired and/or don't want to mess with complicated details) Do you believe this is my first pair ever of vanilla socks?