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Introducing Jodi’s Sweater

June 28, 20161 Comment

Hello! Today I’d like to introduce you to Jodi’s Sweater, a cosy and fun twist on the oversized top.

This piece was inspired by my friend Jodi and this top she had with a twist on the front. As soon as I saw that twist ideas started swirling around in my head about how to make it work as a knitting pattern. The front needed to be reversible, and it had to have some visual interest without being busy. I wanted horizontal stripes, but something that was loose and drapey. I tried lots of different textures and stitch patterns – I mean lots. About a year and a half later it struck me that 2-colour brioche might be just the trick. A few swatches later, lo and behold, that was the one!

Once I had the fabric figured out, I needed to tackle construction. There were a few iterations and extensive trial and error, before I came up with the solution. The front is knit first, sideways, starting with a provisional CO. Then the back is worked from the bottom up, and then seamed with the front. Sleeve stitches are picked up around the armholes, and the rest is easy peasy.

This sweater is all about the details that make it work. And although there are lots of techniques involved that might be new to you – crochet provisional cast on (to start the front), tubular cast on (to start the back), tubular bind off (to finish the sleeves), 2-colour brioche, Latvian braid (in a sneaky little place), I-cord bind off (back neckline) – the instructions are clearly written to help you through. The pattern also includes photo tutorials for some of these special techniques.

I really hope you like Jodi’s Sweater and find it an enjoyable project. It’s been a long time coming to fruition and I’m really proud of it.

Click here here to go to the Ravelry page, or simply hit this handy button to go directly to check out.

Introducing The Heavenly Pullover

January 3, 2015Leave a comment

Here comes the last pattern from the Powder Day collection: The Heavenly Pullover. Heavenly is a top-down, seamless pullover with set-in sleeves. It features a central cable pattern reminiscent of skiers making figure-eight tracks in fresh powder. There are also skiers making side-by-side tracks down from the shoulders. The figure-eight cable also runs down both sleeves while the back is entirely reverse stockinette stitch. The pattern is available on Ravelry and will soon be available on Loveknitting.com for EU customers. Until midnight on January 11th (my birthday), the pattern and the ebook will be available for 36% off. Thanks go again to Eleanor Dixon for technical editing as well as to my great testers. And a huge thank you to Jodi for being such a great model! I had so much fun with this collection, I’m kinda sad to be done. But! I’ve decided I like working in collections so you should expect to see more from me in the future.

Atticus Pullover

August 4, 20145 Comments

It’s knitting season again! I know, it’s really hot now, but fall is just around the corner. Now is the time to start that new sweater so that it’s ready for when those crisp days set in. With fall comes school, which calls for back to school clothes. So let me ever-so-modestly suggest you knit your little ones an Atticus Pullover to keep them warm at the bus stop this year.

A Mother’s Side Note: I’m so excited that I can finally share these pictures of Atticus. He’s so freakin’ cute in them it kills me!

My boy likes a lot of colour, and would be quite happy to wear the whole rainbow all the time. This is my toned-down version of his vision, lots of colour but not so much that your eyes cross.
The sweater is very simple but the stripe pattern makes it lots of fun. The piece is designed with generous ease to fit over a shirt and to grow with the child.

The sample was knit in Cascade 220, a worsted-weight, 100% wool yarn. The pattern is written in 8 sizes, from 2 to 16, and fits with about 4″ of ease.

Thanks goes out again to Eleanor Dixon for Technical Editing, and to all my wonderful testers! I hope you all enjoy this new pattern as much as I do!

The pattern is $6.00 US, but is on sale for $3.00 until midnight MST on August 17th.

Introducing the Beverly Beach Shirt

April 28, 20147 Comments

Woohoo! The first new pattern in a long time! More exclamation points!!! The process of designing and perfecting a sweater pattern is long. But it’s pretty satisfying in the end.

And here she is, Beverly…

The Beverly Beach shirt is knit in one piece as a rectangle, starting at the bottom front edge and ending with the bottom back edge. Garter stitch button bands are knit along both sides as you go, with buttonholes along the front and buttons along the back. The buttons join the front to the back, making this a seamless knit.

Sizes: XS (S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL), fits bust sizes 28 (32, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52)” [71 (81, 91, 102, 112, 122, 132) cm].
This top is meant to be loose fitting and is designed with a generous amount of ease. Sample shown is size M modeled on a 34”/86 cm bust. Please refer to the detailed schematic in the pattern to determine your appropriate size.

Back

Laid out

The release of this pattern also marks the debut of my new pattern layout. Check out the front page and tell me what you think!

Sneak Peeks

April 26, 2014Leave a comment

You may have already figured out by my lack of posting much lately, but my knitting and designing mojo all but disappeared in the new year. After such a busy and crazy push leading up to the holidays I decided to take a bit of a break, but then it was really hard to get back into it.

This is not to say I haven’t been puttering here and there. I did finish a new design, which is just now finishing up testing and getting the last look-over from my editor. Look for its release early next week.

I also got some motivation to come up with something new when my kids’ preschool requested some items for a silent auction. I fiddled around with some colourwork and landed upon something I’m kinda excited about. The hat pattern is mostly written but it’s not exactly the right season to release anything wintery so I’m going to hold onto that one until fall. Until then, here is a sneak peek, working on it in my new favourite place to knit…

Hanalei beach shot

Finally, I’ve just finished writing up a pattern for a striped pullover in kids’ sizes. The Atticus sweater is off to the editor for the first round of revisions and will be in testing soon. Here’s a quick look for now…

So, even though it’s been a little slow around here lately, I think I’ve finally got back into the swing of things. I’ll be posting some more in the next few days about some other exciting goings-on around the land of Cowtown Knits.