Open Studio (+ hat pattern)

Hats. One for my friend, one for me. With cables and ribbing and a turned-up brim for a warm, winters-coming watchcap.


The hat was designed for my friend Andrew. Sometime last January, we spent an evening sitting at the Cambridge Brewing Company, sketching out the hat elements that he'd like. In February, we crossed the river to Windsor Button to pick out a yarn, and he (in good, manly taste) went for Donegal Aran Tweed. In early March, I showed him some swatches, picked out a cable arrangement, and knit the body of the hat. But I didn't manage to finish it for him before winter ended.


I kept re-charting and re-knitting the top of the hat, but I couldn't get the cables and ribbing to come together in a way I like. So, I put the hat away for several months. And this month -- November 2011, nearly a year since we started this process -- I picked it up again, knit myself one in red, and finally finished his! I mostly finished it at a dinner party, then got up early the next morning and sewed in the ends just in time for an outing Andrew and I had planned: Open Studio day at the Vernon Street Studios in Somerville.


We had a marvelous time. We wore our matching hat and I smiled ridiculously the whole time. This particular studio belongs to Robert Puig Reyes, whose paintings really captured me and who graciously chatted with us and was even willing to take our picture. See: smiling!


The red one, by the way, was my way of reinvigorating my energy in this design project. It's knit in a handspun wool/hemp yarn that I picked up in Nepal years ago, when Mountain Man and I went trekking there for our honeymoon. It's a thick and thin, DK-ish, sturdy, single-spun yarn. Very rustic, a good match for the Donegal tweed.


When I was thinking of what to name this hat, I thought about something that geographically linked it to the Boston-Cambridge-Somerville area, because it was infused with such a sense of place for me. But that day at the artists studios, I realized that working on this hat was like giving my friend a behind-the-scenes tour of my design studio, so to speak. So, "Open Studio" it is.

If you'd like to knit one, too, you can download the free pattern from Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/open-studio

Cliff Dweller Chalk Bag

I don't know how many other knitter-climbers there are in the world ... but this pattern's for you! It's a densely cabled chalk bag, inspired by the sinuously layered sandstone spires of Sedona.


It has a rigid rim, constructed by sewing in a circle of tubing underneath a turned hem.


And a fleece lining, which closes snugly with a hidden internal drawstring. You can see it pinned in here, in preparation for the hand-sewing (basic, I promise!). Makes it a great bag for carrying anything small and precious.


The hemp-blend yarn is pretty tough-wearing, especially when knit up at such a tight and sturdy gauge, though I still probably wouldn't take it into any crazy off-width granite action! :)


The pattern has both charted and written knitting directions, with a detailed tutorial (lots of photos!) to walk you through the sewing and construction.

For more details or to buy the pattern, check out its Ravelry page: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cliff-dweller-chalk-bag

Vermont Shawl

The "Vermont Shawl" is a leafy half-circle shawl, inspired by the verdant, maple-forested hills of Vermont.


I've had a long journey with this shawl. It's been a labor of love for me, and I hope that you love it too.



It's knit from the center neck outwards in three leaf-inspired lace patterns. The construction is similar to a pi-shawl, except that the stitch doublings are spread over a few rows in lace patterning rather than in one row of yarnovers.


The shawl takes 625 yards of heavy laceweight or light-fingering yarn. The pink version uses one skein of madelinetosh Prairie in "Mulled Wine." This single-spun merino blooms into a light and lofty shawl with an incredible depth of color.


The green version uses two skeins of Miss Babs Yet in "Verdigris." The merino/tussah silk blend has a lovely, soft drape and a subtle luster. The color is a gorgeous, deep forest green.


The pattern includes both written and charted directions. The lace patterns are definitely challenging, but they capture a little bit of the forest to wrap around your shoulders.




If you'd like to knit your own Vermont Shawl, the pattern is available for $7 on Ravelry (click here for the Ravelry pattern page).

And thank you again to Nina for the beautiful winter photography ...

Industrial Revolution

I had a secret this summer, a secret project that I can exuberantly share with you at long last! It's a circular shawl, designed to look like a fanciful, fantastical, brass gear.


The pattern -- "Industrial Revolution" -- is part of The Sanguine Gryphon's brilliant Steampunk pattern line for Fall 2010. It's knit in her Sappho II yarn in "Gold Crowned Aphrodite," which is a gorgeously soft fingering-weight merino yarn in a deep, brassy color.

My favorite way to wear the shawl is slightly folded, wrapped around my shoulders, and fastened with a vintage kilt pin.



You can also fold it in half and wear it draped over your shoulders ....



or as more of a shrug, with the ends secured in back (I was able to tie it in back, but you could also secure it with a length of ribbon or that kilt pin again) ...



Doesn't it positively glow in the sun?

In terms of construction, it's cast on at the center and increased like a pi-shawl, with a variety of simple lace and bobble stitches. The turreted garter stitch edging is knit around the edge of the shawl at the end (the garter stitch makes it a good introduction to knitted-on edgings, I think).

You can get the pattern, which has both charted and written-out directions, from The Sanguine Gryphon. And even if you're not interested in this particular pattern, you should check out their Steampunk line -- the cool styling and photography definitely makes it worth a visit.

Sea Urchin - Pattern

[Note: you can download this pattern as a PDF by clicking here]

Whimsical, bobbled sea urchin, knit in soft wool and felted into a sturdy and intriguing ovoid, about the size of the palm of your hand. Use it as a pincushion, toy, or displayable curiosity.


Materials
Yarn: 15-20 yards of Cascade Ecological Wool (100% wool, 250g/478yds), color 8010 (note: both worsted and bulky weight yarn will work in this pattern)
Needles: US 10.5 (6.5 mm) double pointed needles
Notions: tapestry needle; stuffing (wool roving, fabric scraps, synthetic filling, etc.)

Size
Gauge: 14 stitches and 18 rows = 4" (gauge measured before felting)
Size: Finished, stuffed sea urchin is approximately 3.5" across and 2.25" high


Abbreviations
B3 = 3-stitch bobble: K1,P1,K1 into next stitch; turn and K3; turn and Sl1-K2tog-PSSO
B4 = 4-stitch bobble: K1,P1,K1,P1 into next stitch; turn and K4; turn and Sl1-K2tog-PSSO
K = knit
K2tog = knit two together
Kfb = knit into the front and back of the next stitch
P = purl
PSSO = pass slipped stitch(es) over the knit stitch
Sl = slip knitwise

Pattern

Cast on 14 stitches. Divide stitches among 3 double-pointed needles and join in a circle.Round 1: Knit

Round 2: [K1, Kfb] 7 times (21 stitches)

Round 3: Knit

Round 4: [K2, Kfb] 7 times (28 stitches)

Round 5: Knit

Round 6: [K3, Kfb] 7 times (35 stitches)

Rounds 7, 9, 11: K3, [B4, K6] 4 times, B4, K3

Rounds 8, 10, 12: Knit

Round 13: K3, [B3, K6] 4 times, B3, K3

Round 14: K2, [Sl1, K2tog, PSSO, K4] 4 times, Sl1, K2tog, PSSO, K2 (25 stitches)

Round 15: K2, [B3, K4] 4 times, B3, K2

Round 16: Knit

Round 17: K2, [B3, K4] 4 times, B3, K2

Round 18: K1, [Sl1, K2tog, PSSO, K2] 4 times, Sl1, K2tog, PSSO, K1 (15 stitches)

Round 19: K1, [B3, K2] 4 times, B3, K1

Round 20: [Sl1, K2tog, PSSO] 5 times (5 stitches)

Break yarn, leaving a 6" tail. Thread yarn tail on a tapestry needle and draw through remaining stitches. Sew in ends.

Felt the sea urchin by machine (toss into a hot or warm wash) or by hand (soak in hot water with a dash of soap and gently rub with your hands). When it's felted to your desired dimensions, rinse and let dry.

Stuff the sea urchin. To close the opening at the bottom, thread about 8" of yarn onto your tapestry needle and take small running stitches around the opening. Pull tightly to close the hole. Tie the ends of the yarn in a knot and hide them inside the sea urchin.

Enjoy!

Manzanita Cowl

Over the weekend, I finished up the pattern for the Manzanita Cowl. It's simple but lovely, knit in the round with a subtle lace pattern and a bobbled border.


The rounded, undulating branches of the lace might remind you of seaweed or sanddunes. For a desert girl like me, they remind me of manzanita: smooth, flowing branches, rounded leaves, and delicate berries.

It's knit on a Size 7 (4.5mm) circular needle in about 140 yards of worsted-weight yarn. For the pattern, I used one skein of a beautifully soft, naturally-dyed, organic merino yarn (Fleece Artist Lanica in "Blueberry"). I think it would knit up beautifully in Malabrigo, which is also a soft, single-spun yarn.


To test the pattern, I whipped up a version in Noro Silk Garden, a silk/mohair/wool blend. It was so fast to knit -- only about 4 hours total -- that I just about finished it during a day out rock climbing.

The Silk Garden is a little shorter on yardage (110 yards), so I shortened it by half a repeat of the lace pattern. It's an easily adjustable pattern this way; the original is 19" around and 9" deep, but you can easily make it shorter/longer/narrower/wider by adjusting the number of lace repeats.


The pattern is written up with both line-by-line and charted directions. If you'd like a copy, it's available for purchase for $5 on Ravelry and my Etsy shop, or you can drop me a line (evergreenknits[at]gmail[dot]com) to buy it from me directly.

You can also win a copy by leaving me a comment on this post! I am ever so grateful for my readers (old and new) and I'd like to thank you by giving away free patterns. Just leave me a comment here to enter, and I'll draw six names for Manzanita Cowl pattern at the end of the week (Friday, February 12, 2010).

Sprout!

I lovingly knit the last stitch on my baby blanket, and I'm positively beaming to share it with you ....


I designed this blanket in an embossed leaf pattern. It's definitely a challenging pattern, since the stitch count changes over the course of each sprout, but the extra fabric that's made for each leaf gives it a gorgeous, rich, three-dimensional texture.


It uses 3 skeins of Spud & Chloe 'Sweater,' which is a lovely machine-washable blend of organic cotton and superwash wool, in the color 'Grass.' I think the color is more of a celery green than a grass green, but in any case, it's cheery and bright and gender neutral. And it has such a lusciously soft hand!


The seeds of this blanket, so to speak, were planted several years ago, when I made a friend a baby blanket with this leaf motif in one of the early organic cotton yarns (see it here). For years, I've had it in mind to improve on the pattern and find a machine-washable yarn for it. When I found out that another friend was having her first baby, and I learned about the new Spud & Chloe yarn line, it was the perfect time to revisit the pattern.


I chose the increases and decreases with special care, so that the back of the blanket would be as beautiful and symmetrical as the front. I just love this blanket.


It's already packed up and in the mail to my friend. I am so excited for her! And I found the perfect handmade card to go with it -- a darling letterpress card from sweetbeets.

The pattern is all written up and available for sale on Ravelry. If you'd like to buy it, you can either click here to purchase and download it from Ravelry, or you can send me an email at evergreenknits@gmail.com.

And as always, to thank you my readers I'll be giving away five copies of the pattern in a little comments contest. To enter, just leave me a comment! I'll draw names this Friday, October 3.

Outdoor Seating

A "sit-upon" is described by the 1940 Girl Scout Handbook as follows: "It is not wise to sit or lie on damp ground, so put your sweater or "sit-upon" under you. A sit-upon is a piece of waterproof material about eighteen inches square that a wise hiker carries along in a compact roll to use while resting, eating, or sitting around the campfire."


I decided to knit myself one after a long, cold day of rock climbing last January, when I spent many hours sitting on freezing rocks. My sit-upon is knit in a ribbed cable with a rugged worsted wool, which yields a dense, reversible, and doubly-thick fabric. An oilcloth backing makes it waterproof.


Here is the pattern for you, just in time for autumnal hikes, picnics, and football games. I'll also be putting this on Ravelry as a free download.

Sizes:
Small (17" wide x 15" tall), Medium (20.25" x 17"), Large (23.5" x 19")
note: You can knit it to any size by casting on more stitches (repeats of 8 stitches) and knitting more rows (repeats of 8 rows). I started with such a small size to make it fit in my climbing pack.

Materials:
* Yarn: S [M,L] takes 2 [2,3] skeins of Bartlett Yarns Fisherman 2-ply (100% wool; 210 yds/4 oz) in the color "Bark"
* Knitting Needles: US 7/4.5mm circular needle, at least 24" long
* Notions: cable needle, tapestry needle
* Waterproof backing (optional): oilcloth or vinyl fabric. I made holes along the edge of the oilcloth with a small (3 mm) holepunch and crocheted it to the knitted sit-upon with a F-5/3.75 mm hook.


Gauge:
16 st/24 rows = 4" in stockinette stitch

Abbreviations:
K = knit
P = purl
C8B = "cable 8 back": Slip next 4 stitches to cable needle and hold to back of work; [K1,P1] twice from the left needle, then [K1,P1] twice from the cable needle

Pattern:
* Cast on: 128 [160, 184] stitches
* Bottom edge: knit in [K1, P1] ribbing for 5 rows
* Main fabric: knit a cable row by knitting across in C8B, then knit seven rows of [K1, P1] ribbing. Repeat these 8 rows until piece measures 14" [16", 18"] tall
* Top edge: work one more cable row, then [K1, P1] ribbing for 5 rows
* Bind off

Finishing:
Weave in ends using the tapestry needle.
If you want to add an oilcloth backing, cut a piece of oilcloth to fit the size of the knit fabric. Punch holes approximately every quarter inch (6 mm) along the four edges of the oilcloth. Attach the backing to the knit fabric with single crochet or simple sewing stitches (blanket or whip stitch). Alternatively, you could attach it with velcro or by machine- or hand-sewing.


Enjoy!!

Contemplation

The Contemplation Pouches pattern is finished! Here's how I describe them in the pattern: "I knit these bags to carry the essentials on my meditative morning walks. They’re seamlessly knit in eco-conscious yarns and embroidered with symbols of mindfulness, nature, and flow "


I made a conscious effort to use environmentally-friendly yarns for both the main color and embroidery:
Green: Fleece Artist Lanica and Ever Green Yarns Organic Worsted (both are organic merino, naturally-dyed)
Brown: Cascade Eco-Wool (minimally processed, undyed wool) and Earth Arts (naturally dyed wool)
White: Pakucho (organic, colorgrown cotton) and Be Sweet Bambino (organic cotton blend, from an awesome women-owned South African company)

The pattern is available for purchase (at a very reasonable $3!) over at Ravelry. Alternatively, you can email me at evergreenknits@gmail.com to buy it directly from me.


The winners of the free patterns from my contest (thank you for your patience!) are:
todayandeveryday, Eve, TheRaven, Vickie, and AmIAKnitterYet. I'll be sending you all out a pattern pdf today! And thank you to everyone who took the time to leave me an Earth Day message.

Dogwood & Shamrock Pattern

The pattern for Dogwood & Shamrock has been finished! It includes instructions for the felted dogwood, felted four-leaf clover, three-leaf clover with stem, and individual hearts.





Have a peek at its Ravelry page or send me an email at evergreenknits@gmail.com if you're interested in buying the pattern.

And now the for the free pattern contest results ... (drum roll) ... the winners are: SharonRose, Erin, PhatLady, Sarah, Meredith, and JC! I drew one name from every 5 entries. I'll be tracking you down the best I can; please send me an email if you don't hear from me this afternoon.

Woodland Collar (and a contest)

For quite some time I've been thinking about writing a series of patterns that are inspired by textures in nature and that highlight unusual and eco-friendly yarns.

This pattern -- the Woodland Collar -- is the first. The seeds of this project were planted nearly a year ago, and I'm happy to finally present it to the world.

It is inspired by the deeply etched textures of certain tree barks: oak, elm, white pine. I wanted to evoke those textures in a small garment, as if it were a strip of bark to wrap around oneself.

I tried to give the construction an organic feel, with deep vertical cables and a subtle flare at the base. Probably my favorite element is that it uses the gaps created by the cable crossings as buttonholes, so you can change the way it fits and drapes by buttoning at different places.

I spent a long time searching for a yarn that would make for an interesting riff on tree bark. The yarn that I finally chose is a handspun camel yarn from Mongolia. It is produced through The Snow Leopard Trust, which is an NGO that partners with communities in Central Asia to protect snow leopard habitat.

The yarn is soft, but it's definitely a rustic, handspun yarn with a few guard hairs scattered throughout. It was that rough edge that I thought would properly evoke tree bark.

I knit a second version using a beautiful blue-purple yarn from Nanney Kennedy's Seacolors Yarn. I fell in love with her philosophy and her yarn -- Maine wool, minimally processed, solar dyed -- when I visited her farm back in August. The Seacolors yarn has a lot of spring to it, and it makes for a livelier, snugger collar compared to the drapey camel version.

The pattern is a great way to try out single skeins (100g, of course) of worsted weight yarn. I'm knitting up a cool one in Noro Kureyon. And one of the women in my knitting group has made a gorgeous version in Malabrigo.

If you're interested, there are three ways to get this pattern. You can purchase and download it from Ravelry. You can email evergreenknits@gmail.com to buy it straight from me. Or you can try to win it by leaving me a comment on this post by 11/21/08 (next Friday). I'll draw a winner for every ten comments. And if you win and have already bought the pattern, I'll send you a refund and an extra little prize!!