knit happens

All sorts of things happening lately on the knitting front.

One super fun thing: there's a knit-a-long happening with one of my patterns, the Wildflower Socks. Check it out on Ravelry. I am amazed that two dozen people all want to knit one of my patterns, and all at the same time! Very humbling.

And in really crazy news: I designed a kids' fair isle sweater (seen above) of which I am unaccountably proud. And the pattern is for sale - it went up today on Knit Picks through their Independent Designers Program.

It's the first time I've ever had a pattern for sale, and I was pretty nervous about it. I am very committed to keeping knitting and designing fun by not turning it into "work." It's my escape from work! At the same time, I've heard from some designers (whom I admire greatly) that free patterns might undercut their ability to earn anything from their work, and I don't want that. So what to do? Putting fun free knitting stuff out into the world has been a wonderful experience for me that has let me hone my design skills by getting tons of great feedback from lots and lots of wonderful (and patient) knitters.

So the happy (I hope) medium I've come to is this: once in a while, if I have the urge to design something a bit more involved, I might sell the pattern rather than just give it away.

I did really enjoy having a more formal process of proof-reading and test-knitting and working with an editor and all of that, and I learned a lot about how professional designs take shape. I do feel that in this case, the final product is well worth the $1.99! For other designers out there interested in the Independent Designers Program, my experience so far has been really good - the staff at Knit Picks is great to work with.

P.S. That cutie in the photo modeling the sweater is the daughter of our wonderful former nanny, and the Little Pea's greatest role model. The Pea loves her so much that one of her very first words was this sweet girl's name. How about that for devotion?

meet my new assistant

What she lacks in experience, she makes up for in enthusiasm.







The Little Pea has discovered yarn, and she is hooked. Winding, unwinding, sweater modeling, great conversation... what more could you ask for in a Junior Knitting Assistant?

knitting through it

There's nothing in particular that I can pinpoint really, that has made the last month so stressful, but I'm glad that tomorrow starts a new month and perhaps a less hectic one. Lots of commitments to keep, lots of major deadlines at work and not enough time to get the work done, not enough down time to keep me from frazzling out around the edges. We've also been having a nasty heat wave, which has been wearing on everyone's nerves.

pphhbthlthhhhhhhhhhhh

(that was a big, big exhale...)

When I get very stressed, it tends to make me depressed. When I get depressed, it tends to make me hole up in a corner and not enjoy the world much. The more I do that, the more down I feel... I'm sure that many of you are familiar with this unhealthy inward and downward spiral.

If it weren't for knitting and weekly yoga classes, I think that things could get kind of serious. Fortunately, I just get sad and grumpy for a while, until I finally realize what's going on and slap myself upside the head a couple of times.

smack, smack!

I really needed that.

Today, a pair of old friends came over for lunch, and we spent a leisurely, blessedly-cool afternoon visiting with each other and the little one, taking a long walk, comparing garden notes and just enjoying good company. I also cooked some, blocked a sweater that really needed it, and tidied up the house a bit as well. All things that made me feel human and more connected to the rest of the world -- maybe even connected enough to write a tiny bit.

Hello. How are you today?

free pattern friday::bear isle

Poor bear. He was a bit chilly in July, stuck inside with the air conditioning on all the time. Some scrap yarn from the stash fixed him right up with a toasty new sweater.

If you've been wanting to try your hand at fair isle, or learn to knit a sweater in the round from the bottom up, here's a quickie to get you started! The sweater is knit in the round on circular needles, starting at the bottom edge and working up to the underarms. Then the sweater goes on hold while you knit each sleeve, bottom up. All three are joined together and worked as one piece in the round, with the fair isle design in the yoke. Once you've cast off the neck, the only finishing left to do is to graft the underarm stitches together. A one-day sweater -- and a happy kid with a freshly-outfitted bear.

materials
About 75 yards of worsted weight wool in the main color(I used Classic Elite Montera)
About 25 yards of worsted weight wool for the contrast color (I used Wisdom Yarns Poems)
16 inch circular needles, US size 8
double-pointed needles in US sizes 8 and 6
tapestry needle
stitch markers

gauge
4 inches = 18 stitches / 20 rows

size
One size. Feel free to lengthen or shorten as needed. The bear for which this sweater was knit is 15 inches tall (including legs) and has a 13 inch chest circumference.

measurements
circumference = 16 inches
length = 4.5 inches
sleeve length (from underarm): 2.75 inches

color chart


body
Using the circular needles, cast on 72 stitches. Place a marker and join to knit in the round.
Knit three rounds.
Round 4: *K1, P1. Repeat from * to end.
Round 5: Knit.
Continue knitting in stockinette stitch until sweater measures 2.5 inches from the bottom edge.
Next row, decrease 2 stitches evenly.
Next row, work row 1 of the color chart. Then leave your work on the needles and knit the sleeves.

sleeves
Using the larger double-pointed needles, cast on 24 stitches. Place marker, distribute the stitches evenly over three needles, and join to knit in the round.
Knit three rounds.
R4: *K1, P1. Repeat from * to end.
R5: Knit.
Continue knitting in stockinette stitch until sleeve measures 2.5 inches from the bottom edge.
Next row, work row 1 of the color chart. Then place your stitches on a piece of scrap yarn.
Work the second sleeve.

join the body to the sleeves
Return to the body of the sweater. You will be working the color chart, completing a decrease round, and joining the sleeves to the body, ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Ready?

Begin row 2 of the color chart. *(K4, K2tog) 5 times across the front of the sweater. You will have 25 stitches in this section.
Using the tapestry needle, place the next 5 body stitches of the sweater on a piece of scrap yarn.

Now join your working yarn to the sleeve, and knit around the sleeve while decreasing: *(K4, K2tog) 3 times around the sleeve. Put the remaining 5 sleeve stitches on a piece of scrap yarn.

Join the working yarn to the back section of the sweater (the next live stitches in line after the ones you first put on scrap yarn). Continue by working *(K4, K2tog) 5 times across the back of the sweater. You will have 25 stitches in this section. Put the last 5 body stitches onto a piece of scrap yarn.

Now join the working yarn to the second sleeve, just as you did before. *(K4, K2tog) 3 times around the sleeve. Put the remaining 5 sleeve stitches on a piece of scrap yarn. You should have 100 stitches on your needles.

Now you're back at the stitch marker and ready to begin round 3 of your color chart.
Work the next 6 rounds of the color chart. On the next round (the one that's all made up of the main color), decrease again.

Decrease round: K4, *(K8, K2tog) 10 times. K4. 90 stitches remain on your needles.
Work the final row of the color chart.
Knit one more round in the main color, decreasing again as you go: *(K7, K2tog). 80 stitches remain.

Change to contrast color and smaller double-pointed needles.
Knit one round in the contrast color, decreasing as you go: *(K6, K2tog). 70 stitches remain on your needles.
Next two rounds: *(K1, P1). Repeat from * to end.
Cast off loosely, maintaining the K1, P1 ribbing.

finishing
Use kitchener stitch to weave underarms together.
Weave in loose ends.

non-commercial bit: These are free patterns and you are welcome to use them for all the non-commercial purposes you like. However, you may not reproduce the patterns to sell, and you may not sell what you make with them. You may donate what you make with them to charity, and you may use them for charity fundraisers only if 100% of the proceeds are donated to the charity (and by charity I don't mean your kid's college fund). Thanks for understanding!

they're multiplying

One... two... three Anything Animals! Ah-ha-ha!

::shrug::

There is now a post-it note stuck to my knitting bag with these words which shall serve as a reminder into all eternity: DO NOT KNIT FLAT.

I can't knit flat. I have no feel for it. I can follow a pattern okay, sort of, a bit, but I cannot just whip something up unless it's knitted in the round.

Case in point: a couple of weekends back, Bugheart and Grub were visiting. It was divine. Bugheart and I were sitting under a shady tree in the backyard, knitting happily. Well, she was knitting happily. I was fussing over my project because I was bored with the yarn, and longing to start a new project with some amazing rainbow-colored Misti Alpaca Handpaint sock yarn that's been flirting and winking every time I open the yarn cabinet. But I didn't want to make socks. What to do with just one big skein of silky alpaca sock yarn? Bugheart wisely suggested a shrug, because in the summer it's very hot and you don't want to carry around a sweater, but when you go into a building wearing a tank top, it's air-conditioned to Arctic temperatures and you could get frostbite on your shoulders. A shrug! Perfect.

I didn't see any patterns I liked. I became fixated on a specific stitch pattern that I wanted to use, and because all the patterns we perused were knit flat, somehow I became convinced that it had to be that way (silly, silly girl). So, despite the fact that I could not visualize the construction (bad, bad sign), I went ahead and cast on and started knitting the sleeves. Flat. Two of them. They are beautiful.

Then I connected them. Since I can only knit in the round (have I mentioned that before?), I connected them as if they had been knit in the round, and foolishly went about my business. Knitting, knitting, knitting, row after row of lovely, soothing, silken rainbow stockinette stitch. When it seemed about right, I sewed up the sleeves and tried it on.

That's when the beautiful silky rainbows came crashing down around me. Suddenly, my hours of denial became crystal-clear. It was too small, too short, too crooked, too crazy... just wrong, all wrong, and what's more the construction (had it only been knit in the round) was completely clear to me. And it had been all along - I'd just been knitting it flat with a circular construction on the brain. Oh, woe.

So I ripped it all apart and shoved it into a project bag and down to the bottom of my knitting basket, not to be heard from again until my jangled nerves have been soothed.



I'm soothing myself with a six-pack of New Belgium Mothership Wit and some adorable Anything Animals! I am in love. They are quick and easy, and though the pattern says to knit them flat I am knitting them in the round and they are wonderful. Adorable. Perfect. I may make a dozen of them before I even think about that shrug again.

jalapeño-cheddar muffins

Yum. I made these for a bake sale, figuring there wouldn't be as many savory options. They were intended to be an accompaniment for beer, but I think they'd be great with a cold summer soup like gazpacho or chilled avocado soup.

jalapeño-cheddar muffins
makes about 20 muffins

ingredients
3 1/2 cups sifted flour*
2 tsp double-acting baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups lowfat yogurt
2 eggs, beaten
3 Tbsp milk or water
8 oz X-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 small yellow squash, grated
5 jalapeño peppers, seeded
1/4 yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

First, grate the squash. Then put the onion, garlic and peppers into the food processor and chop them very finely. Saute the onion mixture in a skillet until the onions are starting to become translucent, then add the squash. Salt and pepper lightly, and saute for about 5 minutes until the veggies are tender. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and prepare your muffin tins (you will need two).

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda together in a large bowl.
In another bowl, beat together the yogurt, eggs and milk. Mix about half of the cheese into this bowl. Make a well in the flour and pour in the liquid. Mix with a few swift strokes until the wet and dry ingredients are just barely blended. Scatter the veggie mixture into the flour, and finish blending using as few strokes as possible.

Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full. Scatter the remaining cheese over the tops of the muffins and then bake for about 20-25 minutes. The cheese will get wonderfully bubbly and just barely start to brown around the edges.


* Note on flour: I used a blend that was about 1/3 white flour and 2/3 whole wheat pastry flour, but you should use your favorite flour for savory muffins - I think wheat flour works nicely with these flavors.


a satisfied customer