Knitting for Mother Earth Cowl: A Yarn Spinner Story+Pattern

Introducing the second in my new pattern line….one that comes with a story attached!  The new Yarn Spinner Story + Pattern line allows readers who knit (or knitters who read) two pleasures at once.  Enjoy a piece of short fiction, accompanied by a pattern that stands on its own.  This downloadable luxury offers a sweet combination for thinking knitters, particularly ones using a tablet or smartphone.

 

Can knitting connect women across commuter trains, generations and avert a terror attack?

Knitting for Mother Earth, the second story in the series, catches a young woman on her daily commuter train to New York.  She follows her gut, alerting a fellow passenger to what seems dangerous…and, to get beyond the experience, builds a strong bond through knitting.

 

This story pairs with a design for an enormous cowl to get lost in. Prepare for some sumptuous knitting with super bulky luxury yarn.

Want more stories?

The first story in the series, The Hole Inside, offers unrequited love from an independent heroine who never forgets her knitting.  While on a business trip, she’s invited to a knitting group.  Settle into a coffee, a town filled with college students, and an unsettling surprise from the heroine’s past that calls for a quick exit.

-Paired with a stranded mitten pattern in 7 sizes, from 2-4 years to XXL

 

Knitting for Mother Earth Cowl: A Yarn Spinner Story + Pattern is the second story in this series.  Look for more short fiction from Joanne Seiff soon. The companion nonfiction series: A Yarn Spinner Essay + Pattern, will follow.  Joanne Seiff’s articles and essays appear on the CBC, Salon.com, and in the knitting world on Knitty.com, Interweave Knits, Spin-Off, and Vogue Knitting. Seiff feels that linking her love of writing and knitting design in this short format offers an exciting and novel horizon for fiber arts!

 

Knitting for Mother Earth Cowl will be available in March 2015 on Ravelry, as well as through Loveknitting.com for EU knitters.

Here's the link to the Ravelry pattern to learn more!

(PS: Please sign up on my email list---the form is to the right of this blog post!  I finally figured out how to put it up in HTML!)

new downloads available!

It's definitely still winter here in Winnipeg.  About -40 with the windchill this AM (that is the same in Fahrenheit and Celsius). It has been a real slog, this season.  I am getting tired of putting little boys into snow suits just to go outside! We've got one of the coldest winters on record...and we have ample opportunity to wear woollies!  This post is to celebrate the launch of a few pattern downloads now available for sale.  All of them are relatively quick knits if you are, like me, still experiencing winter. :)

The first pattern is this Icelandic Winter Cap.   I loved my personal version of this design to death!  It is now felted with snow and hard use and battered and perfect for my boys' basement toy box, but still warm. It knits up quickly with Lopi yarns and is an inexpensive boost to your winter wardrobe...covers your ears, too!

The next photo is of the Sit Upon.  This is my only crochet pattern in print.  Made quickly with an enormous crochet hook and wool roving, these sit upons can warm up a bleacher seat or dress up your dining room.  It all depends on where you need it!  One of my Sit Upons actually works as a placemat underneath my dogs' water bowl.  It is a versatile and useful thing to have, and very fast to make.

The Mary Jane Socks, a pattern featured in an earlier blog post, are an ideal way to use one of a kind hand-dyed sock yarns.  Assuming all the stars align, I hope to feature a brand new version of this pattern in a special new hand-dyed yarn line.  In the meanwhile though, the pattern is now available as a download, too!

The Deep V Sweater is an interesting pattern and I'm surprised I have not seen more versions of it posted online.  Knit with two strands of cotton yarn, it can be knit with either two strands worsted weight or one strand bulky weight yarn.  It's designed to keep the chill away, whether you're at a festival or at home.  I look forward to seeing more versions of this pop up on line now that the pdf is available.

The last pdf from Fiber Gathering that is now available as a separate download is the Unmistakably Warm Cowl.  I am featuring a photo of this one that shows it around the ears, but it is, of course, also good for your neck!  When I knit this out of lighter weight alpaca, I was living in Kentucky and it seemed mighty warm.  I won't lie, this version is not warm enough for Winnipeg winters (but then, very little is!)--if I were to make this for wear here in Winnipeg, I'd make it out of worsted weight or bulky weight alpaca, and I'd make a bigger cowl, too.  The good thing about this pattern is that it is easy to modify and very fast to make. 

I am excited about being able to market these patterns separately!  Several blog readers have either posted comments or mentioned privately that they think this is great too--thank you so much for the moral support.  I am really hoping that making these patterns available individually will offer knitters more options to enjoy knitting these designs.  As one friend explained, she already has my book, but would love to just have the convenience of a single pattern at a time--no scrolling through an ebook--available on her iPad in her knitting bag.  Here it is, friends!  Thanks for your kind words and support!

(More to come soon...I am already slowly posting Knit Green patterns online as I find spare moments.)