Alex Tinsley’s “So You Want to be a Knitting Designer” ebook is a primer on the ins and outs of being a knitting designer. Her easy writing style, comical antidotes, and no holds bar advice from experience gives a full purview of the career. A must read for all budding designers! After a short introduction, Alex dives into the essence of the job – writing patterns: what goes into a pattern, how are they formatted, how much information to include, what peripherals might be needed, etc. You might have 1001 fabulous pattern ideas, but it is essential to the career to be able to convey those ideas in a manner in which other knitters to reproduce the intended FO (finished …
Puffed Sleeves, Modernizing Traditional Christmas Styling
When I thought of traditional Christmas in the creation of Cassandra Christmas Sweater, an essential element that came to mind was puffed sleeves. In Anne of Green Gables (the movie), Anne is invited to a Christmas party by Diana’s family. She desires more than anything to have a dress with puffed sleeves. Her beloved Matthew surprised her with a dress he picked out precisely according to her wishes. Anne replied, “The puffiest!” So for those romantics like Matthew & Anne, here’s how to adjust the sleeves to achieve “the puffiest.” I knit the original sample for my mom, who, like Matthew & Anne, wanted this classical elegance. Note: includes the puffiest puffs & pleats in those puffs.Work the BO section …
Ravelry Highlight: Nin Designs
The budding designer’s group on Ravelry is a great place for meeting other budding designers & finding cool offers. This one, from Nin Leavitt, was just too good to let pass: an offer for tech editing by a budding tech editor! Nin Leavitt (KeswickArtsCrafts) was gracious enough to give a second set of eyes to Cable Berry Cowl. She was thorough in her examination and found several “whoops” before publication. She checked the front matter, written directions, charted directions, and most importantly that the written directions matched the charted directions. So if you are a designer with a non-sweater challenge that will help her grow, take Nin up on her offer! You won’t be disappointed. Nin’s done her homework, taken several …
Indie Design GAL – Eco Pattern Highlights
Eco crafters, welcome to the Indie Design Gift-a-long on Ravelry! With over 11,000 eligible patterns, I thought I’d highlight a sampling of some of the many eco patterns in today’s blog post. For Her:Tangent, a quirky tank, by Melissa Lemmon (knitterleigh) knit in (my favorite) Blue Sky Alpaca’s Skinny Cotton – 100% organic cotton sport weight yarn & accented with Be Sweet Bamboo – 100% bamboo yarn. Yeats, a quick shawlette, by Corrina Ferguson (picnicknits) knit in Our Humble Castle Soy Beautiful – 100% soy light fingering yarn. For Kids:Ryker, a textured vest for play or church, by Katya Frankel (bingeknitter) knit in Knit Picks Simply Cotton Organic Worsted – 100% organic cotton yarn. Evie, a cute overtop, by Justine …
Indie Design GAL – Cranberry Scones Recipe
Cranberry Orange Scones Lindsay Lewchuk – 2005 Ingredients 1 c. organic buttermilk or organic plain yogurt1 organic large egg1 tsp. organic orange extract3 c. organic all purpose flour2 tsp. organic baking powder½ tsp. organic aluminum-free baking soda½ tsp. organic salt8 T. organic cold unsalted butter, cut up1 c. organic frozen cranberries, halved1/3 c. organic fructose or ½ c. organic granulated sugar1 tsp. organic orange zest1 T. organic butter at room temperature Directions 1. Preheat oven to 375 F.2. Measure buttermilk in a 2c. measuring cup; beat egg in with a fork & add orange extract.3. Put flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt into a large bowl.4. Stir to mix well.5. Add 8 T. of butter crumble with fingers until the mixture looks like …
Indie Design GAL Pattern Reviews – Hats
Last week: “Well I’m up a creek without a paddle, but thanks to Ravelry, I now have a paddle! It just started snowing & my two nephews are coming up Saturday from Texas without cold weather gear. This is EMERGENCY knitting. All other projects are put aside until I get hats for my precious nephews! So thankful for the Indie Design Gift-a-long and scoring this great pattern! After sending me my nephews’ head sizes, I got a PM from my sister, ‘and just in case you are wondering, my head is 21.5 inches. So all total 3 hats to knit in 1 week!” Now that my precious boys are gone & I’ve caught my breath (and the 2646 posts in …
Indie Design GAL Designer Highlight – Jenise Reid
One of my favorite parts of the Indie Design Gift-a-long is getting to know other designers. My first designer highlight of GAL 2014 is the estimable Jenise Reid – femininebydesign. Prolific hardly does Jenise justice, with her portfolio of 108 designs, 30 of which are 2014 new releases! So grab your organic tea, it’s time to dive into Jenise’s interview! If you could only knit/crochet one item type of item, what would it be?Sweaters. As much as I enjoy a quick accessory, I tend to think of them as things to be made between sweaters… Which of your patterns make for really great gift knitting?The bootcuffs, or the headbands, depending on where you live. They are fast, don’t use a ton …
Indie Design Gift-a-long (GAL) 2014 Launch!
Indie Design GAL 2014 is here!! 293 indie designers from 21 countries have banded together to create a knitting & crocheting gift-a-long of epic proportions! Join our group on Ravelry, search the list of participating designer to find patterns you can’t live without, post your intent in the appropriate thread, and start crafting. To entice the yarn love a bit more, select patterns will be on 25% off sale November 13th (8pm EST) to Friday, November 21st, (11:59pm EST). Just use coupon code: giftalong2014 in your Ravelry check-out. To simplify the search, all items included in participating designer’s Ravelry bundles: giftalong2014 are on special. Click here to see the list. KAL/CALs will run from Thursday, November 13 at 8pm (US-EST) …
Motoring Vest
Motoring Vest, inspired by a photo of a sensationally dressed woman modeling beside a Triumph Twin 500 Motorcycle in 1951, updates the modish style in this figure flattering knitted vest. Garter sections and shaping highlight specific points on the body creating a flattering hourglass figure. A wide button band draws the eye up and down the hourglass, lengthening the body. A mock turtle cowl is accented with a larger button off set from the vertical panel. Knit in two pieces – the body is worked flat seamlessly (joined at the shoulders) and the button band, which is seamed on at the very end. Arm and neck edging finishes the piece. The tech edited pattern includes written directions and schematics. Finished …