Praha

Sep 252012
 

I swear the city of Prague glows at night.  Unlike many western cities with their neon and eerily green-blue nights, central Prague radiates this love with its warm lighting.  It’s so welcoming and cozy, like the illumination itself is wrapping you up and keeping you warm.  This sensation is what inspired this cowl.

I have two pet peeves with most cowls for winter-wear: 1) looseness in the neck makes them drafty and 2) my lower chest often feels unloved and naked unless I have my jacket zipped.  This cowl was my answer to both.

Praha is worked flat then seamed in the back. Ribbing creates a very elastic cowl, allowing no need for closures. Short rows give it a close fitting shaping.


The Details:

Yarn: DK weight yarn. The sample above is shown Tosh DK

Yardage: Approximately 150yds

Gauge: 26sts and 25 rows = 4 inches / 10cm in k3p2 ribbing, unstretched

Suggested needle size: US size 7 and 8

Price: $4

Find this pattern on Ravelry!

 September 25, 2012  patterns, Uncategorized, Year of Color Tagged with: , , ,  No Responses »

The Year of Color: Blue

Apr 112012
 

Blue: the second least used color in my repertoire.  What can I say about this color…. I can’t place it, I just don’t care for it.  Out of all the above shades, none do anything for me.

I’m trying my best to branch out.  I’ve been putting together a few ideas and yarns for a set based on this mini mood board and there was no leaving out the blue.  A few weeks ago on a trip to The Loopy Ewe I was determined to find a blue skein that would fit the bill.  I snagged a skein of Sweet Georgia yarn that has a subtle color variation and a wonderful feel (merino!).  I’m excited to knit this up.  I think I even have a pattern in mind that will mesh well with it.


The bigger question: will I actually wear this color once the yarn becomes a FO?  We shall see.

 April 11, 2012  yarn, Year of Color Tagged with: , ,  10 Responses »

The Year of Color: Orange

Feb 052012
 

Orange is one color that I have never, ever liked.  Thinking back, I can’t remember one single piece of clothing that I’ve ever owned that is orange.  Having grown up in Colorado there is an automatic parallel to me between the color orange and the Denver Broncos, so perhaps that’s a subconscious turn off.  In this Year of Color, I’ve decided that I need to explore this long neglected color.  There is such a spectrum of variety of orange, most of which will not evoke images of John Elway circa 1985.

It is kind of funny to me that my last two patterns featured orange yarn.  For Dak Mai, I used orange and gray simply because that’s what was chosen by the recipient of the prototype.  I like the end result but I hate to admit that I probably wouldn’t wear it myself.  I’m not really of fan of traditionally autumn colors.  For Sputnik the Magnificent I wanted a tabby looking cat, so the orange was just a given.  The yarn for that one, Knit Picks Palette in Sweet Potato (see photo at top), is such a great shade.  Creamy, I’d call it.  I’m really liking the prospect of working with the remainder of this skein and seeing what I can do with it.  My first impulse is to match it with an ivory or cream, but I don’t know if that’s really what would be best or if it’s my lack of color matching skills that makes me steer that way.

This weekend while stuck in the house under 20″ of snow I completed a cowl with some handspun yarn from a friend.  While not entirely orange, it’s blend does feature some nice pale orange shades.  I do believe that I will actually wear this, allowing some of that foreign color to permeate my wardrobe.  Baby steps!

 February 5, 2012  Year of Color Tagged with: ,  No Responses »

Sputnik the Magnificent

Feb 012012
 

I am so, so in love with stranded colorwork.  I would knit stranded mittens constantly if I could.  But, really, how many mittens does one need?  I was thinking a few weeks back on how else to employ the colorwork that I enjoy knitting and designing.  What an obvious thing it was to combine it with my love for toy design!


The shaping of the cat is similar to that of shaping of a mitten.  Anyone who has knit a colorwork mitten will have no problem making the leap to toy knitting.  Really!

 

 

 

 

The Details:

Yarn: fingering weight wool, shown here in Knit Picks Palette
Yardage: approximately 115yds in MC (shown here in yellow) and 60yds CC (shown here in orange)
Gauge: 34sts and 38 rows = 4 inches / 10cm in stockinette stitch
Suggested needle size: US size 1, either 4 DPNs or one long circular
Finished measurements:  approximately 15″ tall
Price: $4


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Find this pattern on Ravelry

 February 1, 2012  patterns Tagged with: , , , , ,  2 Responses »

Pairing colors

Jan 172012
 

 

Knit Pick’s fingering weight yarn Palette is my new favorite yarn.  I’ve been all about colorwork knits this winter and Palette is so versatile for this purpose.  And look at the variety of colors to choose from!  Sometimes even if I don’t have a project to be picking yarn for, I love to just peruse these pages and daydream about the colors.  Then I think about pairing colors and I get so completely overwhelmed that I have to put it away.

All of my colorwork project recently have involved one color paired with a cream or white.  See my Recess for Grownups.  Or this here cat.  I have the pattern for this in the works and I forced myself to not pick a neutral color yarn for the pattern sample.  Two colors!  Next to each other!  So weird.

My color wheel and my stash dare to meet. Someday they will learn to get along.

I have nothing against the idea of color, I feel like I just don’t know how to work them.  A few months back I bought a color wheel in hopes that it would aid me in my color coordinating quests.  I played with it for a good while, dyed a few skeins with my choices, and was less than thrilled with my end results. I’m not sure what was wrong, it just didn’t look right.  I think I need some practice to hone my color skills.

Or I need to dust off my dartboard, place the wheel in the center, and let chance do it better.  I like this option.

 

 

 

 January 17, 2012  Year of Color Tagged with: ,  2 Responses »

2012: The Year of Color

Jan 082012
 


I do believe my yellow Aidez sweater has started a snowball effect of color in my knitting world. I recently completed the above shawl (Cladonia) which is a color combination that I could never see myself in. I had originally chosen the rainbow yarn for my daughter and the yellow for a friend but both sank to the bottom of my stash. I never would have dared knit either for myself. But now I love it.

In the weeks since finishing the cardigan and the shawl, I find myself gravitating to brighter and brighter colors. Yesterday some of my knitting friends and I ventured down to the brand spanking new Fancy Tiger location (AMAZING, by the way!) and my eyes went to all the vibrant colors that I would have passed over a year ago. It’s like having a new set of eyes!

I walked away with a few skeins yesterday, one of which was this great fuchsia Peace Fleece with which I want to knit myself a Molly.

When I got home I laughed at the realization that this is not unlike the color pink that my hair use to commonly be years ago.

Perhaps my sticking to blond and red hair has contributed to my need for bright color in my otherwise neutral wardrobe.  Oh, my beloved pink, you will adorn my head once again!

I hope to keep this up for the rest of 2012.  Perhaps I’ll venture more into orange and blues, those colors which never dare enter my dresser.  I’m excited to see what this year brings!

 January 8, 2012  knitting, Year of Color Tagged with: , , , , , ,  4 Responses »