Rhinebeck Roundup

November 8, 2012 Ms Cleaver

Sot it's been several weeks since Rhinebeck but I've finally got my act together to put pen to paper (as it were). The trip as a whole was a bit of mixed bag because of some hotel troubles, but the Festival itself, along with the excellent company, made it an overall win in my book.

We headed out early Friday morning to take a detour to Northampton and WEBS, and everyone managed to pick up copious amounts of yarn - even me! I got enough yarn to make myself a Wispy Cardigan, a Porom Hat, and a bag of worsted weight tweed for a Mr. Cleaver sweater. At Rhinebeck itself, I limited myself to two skeins of FoxFire Cormo/Alpaca which will likely end up as these. When I will have time to knit all these things I don't know, but a girl can dream right?

In our hotel room we entertained ourselves by reading the "naughty bits" of romance novels out loud and chowing down on snacks.

On the first day of the festival, we all got a good laugh when Bristol got recognized as the Winnowing designer about five seconds after we got into the long line at the front gate. After that there was more shopping (I got a Jennie the Potter bowl and a sheepskin), some apple cider doughnuts, and chatting with friends and fellow designers we saw along the way. After we tuckered out at the Festival, we headed to Poughkeepsie and saw the Walkway over the Hudson. While just three of us walked the whole length and back (which admittedly was probably more walking than I should have done after walking all day), the views were definitely worth.

On the second day of the Festival I took a "drafting methods" spinning class, along with Maggie and Bristol from Beth Smith, It was my first spinning class and I found it highly enjoyable and educational and would recommend Beth as a teacher. After our class, the whole gang got together to photograph our matching sheep heids, before hitting up a few more booths and heading home, suitcases full of yarn.

Giveaway Winner

October 31, 2012 Ms Cleaver

The Random Number Generator picked 4, so our winner is micicuta!

Introducing the Knitscene Featured Designer Collection!!

October 25, 2012 Ms Cleaver

So on Tuesday, something very exciting happened for me. A national magazine hit the newstands with my name on the cover (spelled right and everything)!! Way back in March I got a email from Lisa Shroyer, the Knitscene editor, asking if I would be interested in doing a collection as their featured designer for the Winter issue.

Would I?! And in the Winter issue none the less?? I think I thought about it for a minute before I said yes, yes and yes!

After about a week, I sent Lisa a packet of about six design proposals ranging from the simple to the complex and included four sweaters and two accessories, plus one more accessory I had submitted to magazine through the regular process. (Some of the "rejects" will likely show up as designs in the future too). We edited it down to three items, which I though was doable in the approximately 8-week knitting period.

Some yarn was ordered and fortunately some of it matched my swatching yarn, so I was able to get a head start on the math. As soon as my first yarn arrived, I start knitting like a crazy person. (Fortunately no repetitive stress injuries were obtained in the process of making this collection.) In end, we ended up with three designs that I'm very proud of.

Willamette Coat

The Willamette Coat (they named it after my alma mater) is my personal favorite in the collection. It's an idea that's been banging around in my head for over a year, and I was glad to finally get it out into reality. The big feature hear is the asymmetrically buttoned front with the dramatic cable panel and the matching cabled cuffs. I think the sample might have been a bit small on the model, because it can button (for example, dress form it's a size 35" sample on a 33" bust), but I'd recommend a minimum of 2" positive ease.

The sample was knit in Berroco Vintage Chunky an acrylic/wool blend that is probably my favorite machine-washable yarn ever. It comes in a bunch of great colors, is fairly inexpensive, and doesn't feel plastic-y at all (though the ends are a bit harder to weave in). I'm actually on my third project with this yarn now, that's how much I like it. If you're looking to sub, I'd recommend any bulky weight wool that shows cables well.

Toulouse Pullover

The Toulouse Pullover has been the big hit on Ravelry so far. Knitscene did some lovely boho-chic styling on this one, that I think has really attracted people to it. Which is funny as I considered it a much more 50s-style garment in my head when I was making it, but that just shows the versatility and timelessness of the bow-neck I suppose.

This item is probably the easiest knit in the whole collection. After you knit the collar/ties back and forth the rest is a super simple raglan with no body shaping. Again, I'm not sure on the model's size, but for comparison it's a size 34 3/4" on a 33" dress form in the center photo.

The yarn for this sample is Classic Elite's Mountain Top Vista, an organic worsted weight wool. It's got a nice hint of halo, surprisingly drapey, and is definitely sheepy. In the projects that are already (!) popping up on Ravelry a lot of people are subbing in Berrocco's Ultra Alpaca, which would be a really good choice too. Anything with a bit of drape and halo.

Marketa Mitts

This is the only design in the collection I named myself, and like the mag says, they were inspired by Mareketa Iglova's character in once. They're your basic fingerless mitts, knit in reverse stockinette with a tulip-esque insert panel that's a combo of a bunch of sts.

This sample was knit in Shibui Baby Alpaca DK - a super dreamy yarn to knit with, though I'm not sure I'd call it a DK (these were knit on size 2/ 2.75 needles). The could easily be done in a fingering weight, and something with less halo would show off the stitch pattern a bit more clearly.

Where can I get these?

Right now the magazine is on newstands, or can be purchased as a digital magazine. There are several other lovely patterns in there, as well as a 2-page profile on me.

If you want to favorite or queue these up, here are the links for the Willamette Coat, Toulouse Pullover, and Marketa Mitts.

A Giveaway!

I've also got one signed copy of the magazine, along with a skein of Shibui Baby Alpaca DK in Artichoke (like the sample) to make your own pair of Marketa Mitts to give away. If you're interested, simply leave a comment below and I'll use a random number generator to pick a winner on Tuesday.

Decision of Bulky Porportions

August 21, 2012 Ms Cleaver

The heavy weight of decision becomes even more weighty when it's in bulky. :)

Introducing: Sakura

July 12, 2012 Ms Cleaver

Back in February, I set out to design my idea of the perfect spring sweater and the Sakura cardigan is result. Delicate, airy, and sweetly pink without being saccharine, Sakura was inspired by my visit to the Washington D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival in the spring of 2011.

Knit in Quince's springy sport-weight Chickadee yarn, Sakura features elbow-length sleeves, an a-line silhouette and a petal-like lace scallops along the button band and collar.

Sakura is knit in one-piece from the top down and utilizes round yoke shaping.

Sakura is written for sizes 31 ½ (33 ¼, 35, 37 ½, 39 ½, 40 ½, 43, 44 ½, 47, 48 ¾, 51, 53 ¼)” and uses 905 - 1810 yards of Quince & Co. Chickadee in Dogwood or another sport-weight yarn.

Sakura is available for download on Quince & Co. for $6 USD or you can queue it up on Ravelry.

PS – Did you know about my mailing list? You’ll receive notification about all new patterns as well as special discount codes and offers. Sign up Now!

All modeled photos © Carrie Bostick Hoge courtesy of Quince & Co.

Let Them Eat Cake!

May 22, 2012 Ms Cleaver

Frequent readers are aware that my knitting group celebrates National Pie Day each year in January, and we thought it unfair that cake didn't get it's own special day, so we made one up.

Our original idea was to tie it to an important Marie Antoinette date of some kind, but it got moved around a bit and the first (annual?) Let Them Eat Cake Day was celebrated this past Sunday.

We had meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potato "frosting," crab cakes, corn bread cake with chili sauce, pink lemonade cake, lemon blueberry cake, blueberry pound cake, pumpkin whoopie cake, and leftover graduation sheet cake.

After gorging ourselves on a round of savory cakes and a round of sweet cakes, we traipsed outside to a) slip into a food coma or b) burn off some sugar high with a game of croquet.

Maggie demonstrates the proper food coma form.

Afterward we pulled out our Tupperware and divvied up the copious leftovers, and let's just say I'll be celebrating Cake day all week!

Introducing: Westwood

April 19, 2012 Ms Cleaver

Now that I completed my squealing with excitement over being physically published, I thought I'd share some of the details and design inspiration behind the Westwood Blouse.

I was initially attracted the Knitscene call for submission when I came across the "southern comfort" prompt. My brain started thinking of hanging moss and Gone with the Wind and I ended up looking at a bunch of photos of corset covers, which, along with a tank I had from Banana Republic, served as the starting point for the design.

I was specifically drawn to the blousey shape and sometimes embellished necklines. I ended up choosing this very simple openwork (two-sided lace) pattern and starting thinking about construction.

This top couldn't be easier to knit. It's knit in the round to the armholes and then split at the armhole to work the lace and then seamed at the shoulders into a boatneck. Even if you've never knit lace before, the stitch pattern is an easy two-row/ four-stitch repeat that gives a lot of visual bang, for a small amount of complexity buck.

The swatches above where done in Quince & Co's Lark, but the final design was done in Kollage Yarns Riveting Sport, a recycled denim yarn. I'm always a bit wary about recycled yarn, but I found this to be lovely to work with. It's not splitty and very light.

I will note that the yarn is machine washable/dryable, but my gauge information was based on a swatch/sample that was hand washed and blocked flat, so if you have plans to machine wash/dry your final garment, do so with your swatch and adjust needle size as necessary.

The magazine is currently on newstands or is available as a digital download from the Interweave store. Eventually the pattern will be available as a stand-alone download in the Interweave store (presumably after the magazine is off shelves).

You can also queue it up on Ravelry.

The Postman Cometh

April 10, 2012 Ms Cleaver

I had all these plans for writing a long post of reflection on my Lenten vegetarian experience, and then the mail came.

Look, it's the summer edition of Knitscene.

With a two page spread of my design!

My name in print!

This hasn't happened since I got a byline as an intern for an article on August Wilson's play cycle in the Jan/Feb 2007 edition of the Goodman Theatre's OnStage Magazine (So totally different).