Design – Page 5 – Cowtown Knits

GIVEAWAY – Featured Independent Designer: Anjali M

November 15, 201410 Comments

My first featured independent designer of the 2014 Gift-A-Long is Anjali M of Affiknity Designs. (All photos copyright Affiknity, used with permission)

I asked Anjali my Five Questions, and here is how she answered.

1) Tell us a little about yourself.

I work full time as a programmer and knit and design in my free time. I live with my husband and my 6-year old son in Bangalore, India. I like to travel, read and take long walks on the beach (sad there is no beach in Bangalore). I have not yet made up my mind on what I love more: tea or coffee. I am a novice photographer and a budding baker.

2) How did you start designing?

It all started with a simple wish to make a blanket for my baby when I was pregnant. After searching high and low for a pattern, I couldn’t find any that I liked. I decided to make one up myself (I didn’t know the term designing then). I hunted down a nice stitch pattern in my stitchionary, worked out the gauge and thus was born my first ever pattern, As Sweet As Honey Baby Blanket. I enjoyed the process so much that I continued doing it.

3) How would you describe your design style?

I don’t really work towards having a distinct style, but I always keep in mind the practicality of the knitted piece and the interest of the knitter. I try to keep my designs simple, yet add one interesting element to it. To name a few: Hira has beads, Texo Pullover has cabled pocket and Dyvest has interesting cable transitions.

4) What is your favourite pattern of your own design?

It is so hard to choose! For purely sentimental reasons, I would say ‘As Sweet As Honey Baby Blanket’ as it was my first design and also it was made specially for my baby.

5) Are you doing any gift knitting this year?

Oh yes. I am so excited to see so many great patterns offered for sale and KAL. I am planning to make a hat for my son. Allotrope Hat looks interesting. I might decide to make a baby cardigan if my mood strikes.

Thank you so much Anjali for answering my questions so thoughtfully! It’s a pleasure to have been able to feature you on my blog.

To celebrate the Gift-A-Long, Anjali and I would like to offer you the opportunity to win one of her patterns. To enter, have a look through Anjali’s patterns and leave a comment below telling us which is your favourite. Leave your comment before midnight MST Wednesday, November 19th and I will do a draw the next day to choose a winner. Good luck everyone!

Re-Introducing the Pippa Toque

November 7, 2014Leave a comment

Check it out folks, I re-worked the Pippa Toque!

The previous version was written with yarn that had been discontinued. Although most people are comfortable with substituting yarn, others like to use the exact one called for in the pattern. I have recently fallen in love with the vivid, saturated colours of Jil Eaton Minnow Merino yarn and thought it would be perfect for this project. I was right!

I also wanted to update the pattern for more sizes and lay it out in my new pattern format. The pattern is now available in 5 sizes, from baby to adult.

All of this updating happened in a bit of a rush because I needed to have it ready for a fun event that’s happening tomorrow. I’ll have a booth (for the very first time) at the Calgary Fibre Arts Fair! If you stop by you can see all of my samples and even grab a free print copy of the Pippa Toque pattern. There will lots of other vendors and classes going on, and I’ve heard there’s some great door prizes! Please stop by and say hi if you’re in the area!

To find the free digital version of the pattern, click here! I hope you like it!

Introducing the Sunshine Fingerless Mitts

November 2, 2014Leave a comment

It’s time to release the second pattern in the Powder Day Collection – The Sunshine Fingerless Mitts.

The Sunshine Fingerless Mitts feature a long cuff and gusseted thumb. The back of the mitt features a figure-eight cable pattern flanked by two sets of straight slipped stitch columns (those skiers were just bombing the run).

The mitt pattern alone is available on Ravelry for $5. It includes written and charted instructions so you can work this pattern no matter which you prefer.

Or you can buy it as part of the Powder Day e-book. With the release of the Sunshine Fingerless Mitts, the price of the e-book goes up to $9, which is still a steal of a deal (you eventually get 4 patterns). You can read more details about the book here. Or you can just go ahead and buy it now…

Thank you again to Eleanor Dixon for technical editing, and to my wonderful testers. And a huge thanks to my friend and skiing buddy, Anne, for being a great model (and having the perfect shirt for the shoot!)

Pompom Tutorial

November 2, 20142 Comments

I’ve been working on updating the Pippa Toque pattern over the last few days. It was one of my first patterns so it left a bit to be desired, including being worked in a yarn that had been discontinued. I thought it might be a good idea to clean it up a bit, work up a new sample in a current yarn, and put it into my new pattern layout.

I also decided that I didn’t need to include the photo tutorial for the pompom in the pattern. Instead, I’m now going to put the tutorial up here so that it can be accessed by anyone. I can now include a link in my patterns to the tutorial. Easy peasy!

Making a pompom is also easy peasy. Check it out…

Pull a long strand of each colour of yarn from the balls and hold together, laying across your fingers.

Wind around your fingers 15 to 20 times. (If you’re only using one colour you’ll want to do more like 100 wraps).

Cut a 12″ length of yarn. Push one end between your middle two fingers, wrap around the strands at the center and tie very tightly.

Do not cut off ends of this tie.

With sharp scissors, cut through the center of the loops on either side of the tie.

The resulting pompom will be a little messy and uneven.

Give it a good fluff and then, using your scissors, give it a trim to make it a nice round ball. Using the long ends of the strand tied around the middle of the pompom, tie the pompom tightly to the top of the hat. Weave in the ends.

Good stuff, eh?

Introducing the Fernie Hat and the Powder Day e-book

October 20, 20143 Comments

It’s new release day!!!

First, let me tell you about the Powder Day e-book.

I’m so excited to be releasing my first collection of patterns. The book was released today with just the Fernie Hat, at a reduced price. As the other patterns get released (between now and January), the book will get updated. Buyers will get an updated version emailed to them each time an update comes out. Early buyers get the book at the seriously great price of $7. Each time a new pattern is added, the price goes up, so it will be $9 after the 2nd pattern is out, then $11 when the 3rd pattern is added, and then it will be the final price of $14 when all 4 patterns are there. And since you can already see what you’re getting, what have you got to lose?

And with the release of the e-book today also came the Fernie Hat, the first pattern in the collection.

The Fernie Hat features the figure-eight cable on a reverse stockinette stitch background. It starts with a twisted rib brim, which evolves into a set of 6 cables that eventually taper to the top. It’s finished off with a funky pompom, as all hats should be!

If you’re interested in just the hat then it’s available as an instant download on Ravelry for $5.

Once again, thank you to Eleanor Dixon for technical editing and to all of my testers for being the best group yet! And I can’t say enough of a thank you to my beautiful friend and model Tamara, who taught me to knit all those years ago!