Category: patterns

  • the end of 2016

    It’s been a weird year, hasn’t it? Nearly done, and me not writing here for months! I’m sure I can’t remember half the things that happened, but here’s my attempt at catching up.

    After our wedding we had to move house, as the landlord of the apartment I’d lived in for 5 years kicked us out in order to renovate. It sucked, but we managed to (eventually) find a new little house that’s pretty darn awesome. Three bedrooms (so we each get an office with a door!), gas stove, dishwasher, washer/dryer, sunroom, backyard, kitchen with actual counter space and outlets – it’s great! We moved less than a month after the wedding, so that was crazy. Of course, there’s still loads to do in terms of getting settled in, but it’s always a work in progress. At least with a trip to Ikea last week we finally have all the window coverings up!

    Our new place is on the other side of town from where we used to live, so I left my fabric store job after three months. It was a pretty short stint, but overall an interesting learning experience. I met some pretty awesome people and picked up just a little bit of fabric. I don’t miss the job, but it was probably a good kick in the butt to take stock of what I actually want to do with my working life.

    In early December I went on a little trip to the east coast to visit our Megan in New Brunswick. It was cold, but clear, and we knit, ate, and gabbed as much as we possibly could in a weekend. We even dyed some yarn!

    lechatbleu-sm

    deanne-studio-sm

    yarn-drying-sm

    yarnmug-sm

    big-sky-sm

    For Christmas, we got a tiny live tree in a pot, and I made so much candy and cookies. And a yule log! We actually spent Christmas together for the first time (we’d been going up to our parents’ separately), and had dinner at my parents’ house on Christmas Day and at the farm after Boxing Day.

    tiny-tree-sm

    candies-sm

    xmas-dinner

    On the designing front, I didn’t self-publish as much this year as I would have liked, but I did get out quite a few patterns with other publishers. (See and buy them all on my Ravelry designer page.)

    SIX new patterns from Swans Island:

    swans-island-designs-2016-sm

    Four from Harrisville Designs:

    harrisville-designs-2016

    Three from I Like Knitting magazine:

    ilk-designs-2016

    Plus a few more here and there, including this one newly released from Diamond Yarn in their yummy Regal Alpaca, Waving Ribs Cardigan.

    waving-ribs

    It was a busy year for me! I have lots of design and editing work lined up and a nice new studio to organize, and I definitely want to get back to blogging more regularly. I would also love to do some personal crafting, knitting or otherwise.

    2016 had some huge ups (getting married!) and downs, and here at the end of it I’m pretty worried about the state of the world, especially for my American friends. But I’m still excited to leave 2016 behind and see what happens in 2017. All we can do is move forward, right?

    garter-st-sm

    Hug your friends and loved ones, and have a strong, safe, and happy new year!

  • New Harrisville Patterns

    Just popping by to say I have a couple of new patterns out with Harrisville Designs, as part of their Foliage Collection!

    lgp_7000

    Bowline is a bottom-up seamless raglan with an interesting, slightly different cabled lattice pattern and braids along the raglan decrease lines. flyWHEEL is such a nice airy wool and I love the colour so much!

    Queue, Fave and Buy Bowline on Ravelry!

    lgp_7941

    Bale Sling is a super quick bulky scarf worked in TURBINE, with interlocking cables for loads of texture.

    Queue, Fave and Buy Bale Sling on Ravelry!

  • Treading Water

    Whew. Getting a job outside my house has been pretty exhausting! It’s been pretty good though, lots of nice people, and just a 10 minute walk commute. Finding knitting and crafting time has been hard though. My pile of WIPs (works in progress) has been staring at me from beside the computer for ages.

    But it’s finally September, and although the weather hasn’t cooled down one bit, I’m ready for fall!

    I want to finish up this squish black garter stitch cardigan, which is nearly done the body. I probably should have knit the sleeves first (before the body) so it wouldn’t be quite so difficult to wrangle, but it’s okay. I think I’ll go with elbow or three-quarter length sleeves on this one.

    black-garter-stitch-sm

    I finished up my Snooker Mitts in Mountain Colors’ Crazyfoot fingering weight and I love them! I’ll have to take some pretty photos and add the fingering weight instructions to the pattern.

    snooker-mitts-light-sm

    Dug out some Koigu lace weight that I had basically completely forgotten about – I had picked up a few skeins from Shall We Knit at the Knitter’s Frolic in the spring. I started a scarf, then changed my mind and started a sweater. I might end up changing my mind again…

    koigu-lace-sm

    And I’ve been hand sewing a little bit! I finished an Alabama Chanin A-line tunic and have worn it a bunch of times. Now I’m working on a longer dress, with princess seams and pockets. I love hand sewing, I really do.

    princess-seam-sm

    In pattern release news, I have a new pattern out with Woolfolk! The fall collection is just beautiful and I’m honoured to be included. You can find my new pattern SPOR on Ravelry or ask for it at your local Woolfolk stockist! The yarn is so so soft and amazing.

    wf-fw16-9562_lores

    wf-fw16-9565_lores

    Photos courtesy Woolfolk. Thank you Andrea for pulling my butt outta the fire on this one – my sample was lost in the mail (SOB) and Andrea knit one up for the photoshoot right quick! You’re the best!