stitch marker

the four-month mitts

After many months of sketching, thinking, driftin, slowly knitting, losing one or the other glove before taking the photos I needed, forgetting which needles I started with, leaving my notebook at Deb's restaurant, I finally finished this pattern. And I really like it. Maybe all that wasted, er, contemplative time made a positive difference. I'm pleased to show you.

They're called Cane Sugar Mitts, and they're part of the KAL Line collection of simple patterns that invite knitters to make their own creative versions of things like cowls, gloves, hats and other small things.

 

This particular pattern uses just a little of  a special yarn, and it can be made to any length. Your choices will make your gloves one of a kind.

 Here are Stevanie's, for example. Hers were so different than mine--with a ribbed thumb panel instead of garter--that I included her version in the instructions.

Note 8/5: I've given away more than 10 copies, so the free period has ended. Thank you! The pattern is for sale now on ravelry and I hope you'll consider buying it to make the mitts.

The KAL Line is meant to be knitalong-friendly (thus the name), so as usual I'm looking for a few early adopters. I'd like to give out 10 patterns to people who will make a pair and show photos on ravelry by the end of August. Comment here or, even better, PM me on rav (I'm LarissaBrown.)

I swear, they don't take all that long.I just dawdled.

buttered toast and goodbye to rubber

The colors in this yarn are so deep and rich, even though overall it appears as neutral, it's amazing. I can't believe they call this "ivory." Also, the yarn is doubled and thus so warm there's pretty much no situation in which I can wear them. But I'm not quite ready to give them to someone in Alaska.

And look, my hand is opening a door to the side yard! Check out Steve ripping out our window.

Pattern: Toast
Yarn: Handmaiden Sea Wool, doubled
Needles: US 7? Or maybe 6? I keep horrible track of my needles.

p.s. Just this very minute we found out that the other guy who worked with Steve to build the door and Sebastian's hidey hole has died. His name was Robert, and Sebastian called him Rubber--one of the last adorable mispronunciations of S's babyhood, I imagine. Of course it became Robert's nickname and made him smile. I feel, not in a creepy way at all, that a little piece of him is here in the house now. He seemed very content working here, and like he felt a sense of belonging while working on these jobs that he may not have always had in his life. I have warm feelings for these guys who have made the place my baby sleeps and the door I've been longing for. Goodbye, Rubber.

lovely, january 12

I have no photos.

I always have a photo. It's vital to every post. So without time to download and such, I've been waiting to write, and missing out on recording so many, many thoughts. About running, about walking and listening, about being three, about knitting.

I've been wanting to write about my little shark mittens, made with Cascade Greenland and finished with oilcloth teeth (my tiny innovation, and the oilcloth is keeping very nicely even in dirty wet bike-with-training-wheels-riding conditions.) I couldn't wait for the pattern to arrive in the mail, so I reverse engineered them and they are adorable and loved.

I want to write about making a Storm Cloud Shawlette using Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight in Bleck. This color is a rich lavender with very subtle variations from a pale whisper to a delicious bluish purple. On my screen it looks a lot whiter than it is in person.

The pattern is ingenious and I can't stop. I started it yesterday during a rare quiet hour at home, sitting in my new bolster, with a diet coke at hand. I:

a. Knit 46 rows, while watching a bit of Star Trek. (I am a real fan, and such is my love for Star Trek that I am actually optimistic about this movie/reboot. How white and exciting it looks!)

b. Put on a wrist brace (see a) and knit up to row 52 today, with just over 20 rows left to go. I just finished working for the day, so we'll see how many more I can knock out tonight.

So, no pictures. Just favorites. It's a lovely January so far.

snow and the solar flare

Unless you have one of the frosty Ss (skis, snowshoes or a sled) there is no way out of my neighborhood. You can't even really walk. Just stumble coldly.

I'm working on a fingerless glove pattern that so happens to use this solar flare yarn - so perfect a foil to the white, white snow. Between the two I am nearly blind.

evolution

It seems my fingerless glove pattern has climbed out of the ooze and is now ready to ride a bicycle. As easy as 1, 2, 3 (and 4, not shown, plus 5, the pair that Gwen test knit.)

The Falconry gauntlets are finally designed and ready! I have been working on this idea for probably half a year. I was shy, because I hadn't made gloves before. But I finally got down to trying to make it work in September.

I find that if I don't know how to make a shape I want to design, the best thing to do is sit in a hot tub. (In fact, I may go do that now.) Then just take some needles and make up how I would do that. Once I get a start physically, then I go look in books like Mary Thomas and my 1970s stitch dictionaries to see if there's any helpful adjustments to what I've come up with. I have found there's no sense of accomplishment like the one I get when I've really invented something myself - not simply looked up a stitch pattern and made it fit on a glove or scarf.

So this is ready. Watch out world. (Hah.)

In case you are interested in knitting some, the Falconry Pattern:

• Takes 1 skein of Malabrigo Merino Worsted.
• And 6 buttons, 1/2 to 3/4 inches.
• Comes as a detailed 4-page pdf download.
• With instructions for any unusual stitches.
• Was successfully and easily test knit by someone who claimed she couldn't do it.
• Costs $5.50 USD.

Thanks for following along.

pico

Oh dear. I was overcome by this idea and very quickly knitted it, wrote the design, worked out some tricky ideas about the finishing, photographed myself in front of my front door (the traffic control guy was amused,) edited photos, uploaded them, designed and saved a pdf, and loaded it into my ravelry store.

And just like pie, which isn't really easy after all, it's available.

The knitting was the easiest part of all that work. It's a very quick and yet, I think, impressive-to-non-knitters neck warmer/cowl/collar secured with a vintage clip-on earring. The earring makes it super easy to adjust how it's worn. Click here to see it as a full-on collar, not a look that is not good for me, how shall I say it, AT ALL. But for some people it would be utterly adorable that way. And here is how freakin' cute it would look in a gift box for someone you really like.

$ 3

Thank you all so much for your interest in my knitting patterns. It's always so much fun to see your interpretations. I'm honored.

p.s. I have always charged $4.50 for each pattern, regardless of the work that went into it or the difficulty of the pattern for the user. Now I'm doing a little market research, and as part of that the Pico pattern, and the Babushkita pattern, are now $3 each. I'm trying out what some designers are doing with their simpler patterns. It's a balance between the work I put into things and the price the market will bear given the impression a pattern makes (for example, a person might think they can make it themselves?) These are all guesses, but anyway I am trying this for a little while to see if I find a different balance.

right hand of falconry

After 3 prototypes, I finally got there.

(Sebastian had a taste of wine with dinner one night and exclaimed "Finally, I got to wine!" As if he'd been on this exhaustive voyage of beverage discovery.)

I finally got to the glove that's been in my head for months. From the giant bell garter cuff to the slender wrist, vintage buttons, and garter finishing.

Designing is fascinating. Picturing something 3D and then making it is something I've done for a long time as an artist, but my giant mounds of interoffice envelopes never had to fit and look good on a body. This is so gratifying, after the bear paw and all. I think I'll keep it.

In case you like it, I'm going to finish some testing and editing of the pattern and it will be for sale on November 1.

now this is the idea

As usual, Malabrigo makes the difference!

babushkita

A friend was mixing her Russian and Spanish when she gave it its name.

It's a small, summery kerchief worked as a mitered triangle with i-cord edging and ties. The pattern is a 4-page pdf with chatty instructions and tips, including i-cord instructions for both attached and plain i-cord. I used Cascade Sierra. Any worsted yarn with a spring to it, wool or cotton blend, will do. It might be cool in a Noro yarn, or in doubled sock yarn, or in any one of the cool cottons available this summer.

More views: The back, top (I know I look like I passed out in that one, but you try to take your own picture in a kerchief!), and ties. You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the document.

Pattern $4.50 US

I wore mine today and it was more comfortable than even I imagined it would be.

this little light of mine

Cute (I hope) design for a kerchief. Horrifying hair. And this thing just resists photography like you wouldn't believe. My time-honored tricks for taking my own picture are not working. I hope I get one or two good shots so I can publish the pattern.

I'd like to make a whole sweater with this yarn. Cascade Sierra. Very nice.

Oh, and someday I'll get a hairbrush. I'm saving up.