Mari Mitts- a new pattern!

I am so pleased to announce this new knitting pattern--finally! Yes, this is the first one released since January...there were some delays.  Many thanks to the tech editor and test knitter who pushed me onwards, and all those who encouraged me.

I am so proud of this design.  First, the Mari Mitts were a design collaboration between me and one of my twins this spring...we needed whimsy. We needed cheerful distraction.  AND, apparently, my kid needed a THUMB RING like Mommy or Aunt Jen wears sometimes.  On his mitts.  Of course!

Second, this this my first pattern that I published with a Low Vision Accessible pdf option from the first.  This means that it's accessible to those who are vision-impaired, too. It takes more time to do this but it's the right thing to do when I can...  It's worth it.

Here they are!  Just in time, as we had a dusting of snow last night in Winnipeg.

Here's an antidote to dark days ahead..

Inspired by a Marimekko fabric print, these mittens have polka dot whimsy with a thumb ring flourish. This unisex stranded pattern has two sizes, Child’s Large/Women’s Small and Women’s Medium/Large. This includes both a chart and a written instructions. This warm mitten works up quickly in three colors, with US size 3 (3.25mm) and 6 (4mm) double pointed needles at 5 stitches to the inch. Any worsted or aran weight yarn that works to gauge is a good match; yardage varies according to mitten size chosen. Ideal for an advanced beginner or intermediate knitter, this is simple stranded knitting, with only two colors per round. Mari Mitts are ideal for those new to stranded knitting or for the stranded knitting knitter who is new to mitten patterns. 

I used Aran weight yarns: Briggs & Little Tuffy, Lett-Lopi and my own handspun gray Cotswold (from Manitoba sheep!), red medium wool, and naturally black Manitoba alpaca. 

The pattern costs $6 and is available on Lovecrafts.com, in my Payhip store and on Ravelry.  Please check it out!

Freestyle Super--a new design!

 Hey, can you believe it?  We actually had a snowfall yesterday in Winnipeg.  One that stuck to grass and cars and decks and made a big icy mess!  Our leaves aren't even off the trees yet...but, this mom worked ahead.

Today, I launched a new knitting pattern called Freestyle Super! It comes in a bunch of kid sizes:
2-4, 4-6, 6-8, and 10-12, and it's an oversized pattern.

It even comes with a sample, all knit up, that fits both twins.

Hurray!

I used all North American yarns to knit this, and it was unbelievably quick knit on size #10.75(7mm) needles.  You could buy all Canadian yarns, like Custom Woolen Mills or Briggs & Little. 
Or, you could buy all U.S. yarns and consider the lovely Quince & Co. Puffin... or, you can combine them, as I did!

The pattern is now for sale online at both Ravelry.com and Loveknitting.com.  If you go to buy the pattern on Loveknitting, you will find I've paired up other yarns that they sell--but the colors mostly match this sample.  There are lots of yarn choices at this quick-knitting gauge.

Hope you enjoy these fun shots of our twins while they modelled and horsed around in the backyard.  (before it snowed.)  We're looking forward to wearing this sweater for a long while to come!

If you're even a little interested in knitting one of these for yourself, hustle over and download a pattern soon.  You can have many hours of knitting pleasure for the price of a fancy coffee.

Happy October!

Cold Snap-a sale!

It's been genuinely chilly here the last few days.  (-40 windchills) Plus, we've been fighting a cold virus in the family; it's slowly making the rounds. One or two of us are sick at a time, which means that I've had several quality days at home with somebody sitting on the couch, watching kids' programming on PBS and CBC... but that's not all bad.

First, both twins suddenly made this huge connection... their Daddy (aka the Professor on this blog) is a scientist, and on an episode of Sid the Science Kid, they learned about how scientists use computers to do science and send emails reporting on their findings.  Whew, that suddenly explained why Daddy uses his computer all the time!  Pretty cool stuff to ponder when you are four and sick on the couch with a cold.  We experimented with an iPad later; we sent an email and watched it arrive, imagining it flying invisibly through the air.  Wow. Magic.

Second, I got to do a lot of productive knitting.  When I might normally have gone out to buy a birthday present for a friend of theirs or rummaged among our special home gift box, instead I stayed home and made a hat.  I used this pattern, but revised it to suit a girl who likes purple and flowers.  The crocheted flower rosettes were actually not made by me, either!  Long ago, I got them in a stash exchange, a half finished project was included.  This was some creative re-use!  Here's the project page on Ravelry.

NOTE: no preschooler noticed the photo shoot, was harmed in any way,  or even asked to move from his comfy spot while modelling any of this. :)

The skein of Quince & Co. Puffin yarn was really lovely stuff to work with, and I thoroughly enjoyed knitting up a second hat to be donated to a newcomer to Canada who might need woollies this winter. Information on creating a liner for the hat are included in these Ravelry project notes , these big stitches will not keep out prairie winds on their own!

Playing with this yarn made me realize that it would also work really well for Over, my new sweater pattern.  (Alas, with the current Canadian dollar exchange rate, I'm probably not going to be able to swing that, but another good Lopi yarn substitute might be  Briggs and Little Super here in Canada.

I also sent out a newsletter this week to my mailing list...(want to sign up?  Check out the sidebar to the right of this text on the blog)
and I included a little sale information.

I'm having a January sale.  Use this coupon code:
Cold Snap

and get 20% off of any of my Rav patterns or my eBook until the end of January.  Happy knitting!  Happy winter!  Now you can enjoy the sale too!

Oh...and don't forget!  Please remember to register if you'd like to learn to spin on Sunday, January 24th, here in Winnipeg.  I can't wait to meet you and spin with you!

crush

The Professor is lucky.  I'd have to say that I encounter few people that actually turn my head these days.  (Yup, nearly 16 years of marriage and counting...)

I cannot say the same about yarn.  I occasionally get a crush.  Sometimes, the crush is totally fulfilled and runs its course.  Icelandic yarn, while I will always love you, while I will return back to you, I'll have to say that my crush is over for now.  I spent this entire winter knitting SOMETHING out of Lopi.  I made a bathmat, two women's sweaters and two little boy sweaters.  Most, if not all of that knitting happened while the boys watched their 20-40 minutes of Sesame Street, Caillou, Thomas, Busytown, or Curious George in the evenings while drinking their bedtime milk.  (We have recently started watching Clifford, it is a thrilling alternative.)  I sit nearby and knit as fast as I can.  Any more complicated knitting happens around nap or night time, and I am usually denying myself sleep to do it.

Recently, I bumped into this pattern on Ravelry.  Then I looked over the whole ebook: Kestrel and I swooned.  A whole lot of Pam Allen designs, and I am a great fan of her work.  Then....only then, I allowed myself to wander over to her yarn company's website--Quince & Co. and looked around.  Another SWOON.  That yarn, Kestrel, is made out of Belgian organic linen.  (Quick, stop yourself before you cruise around to the other yarns.  You could go bankrupt.)

I am on a strict yarn diet.  First off, my stash just about insulates our house.  Second, I knit much less than I used to, before twins....I just don't have time.  Third...shipping anything to Canada is a drag, the postage is expensive, it takes forever, and we are erratically charged duty on weird stuff.  (The latest weirdness?  Secondhand cloth diapers from the UK.  Yes, they were spotlessly clean...but USED NAPPIES?  Really?  We owe money on that baby/kid necessity?!)

Anyway, all that has kept me from buying out Brooklyn Tweed or Harrisville's new yarn, Watershed.  I've even looked at the Irish, UK and Icelandic sites, as we seem to have less problem shipping from there than from the US...

You'll note that there is not a single photo in this post.  This way, if you do not feel the urge to fall in love, to look at yarn p*rn, to covet, you don't have to.  Now you know what I do when I am faced with hours of mindless child-related clean up, or when I am up AGAIN in the middle of the night.  I dream of yarn, of course.

(I'm knitting with this Canadian yarn right now, and it's just about taking the edge off.  The strong woolly odor of spinning oil and fleece does it.  Ahhh.  For now.)

PS:  Trust me, no one is paying me a dime to promote or link to their yarns.  Not even a skein.  I'm just, well, crushing too much to hold it in.