More releases!

Posted on November 11, 2023 by tanyalavine — Leave a comment

I’ve been working hard lately to get some more patterns out. That means I have three more for everyone, with a couple more still to come! If you are ever interested in testing for me, feel free to send me a message through the website, or if you are on Ravelry, you can join my group.

First up, we have a new scarf! This is my Sno’ Fun Scarf and it knits up very quickly. It looks very complicated, but if you put a stitch marker between each of the repeats it really helps keep track of where your repeats are and takes some of the stress out of it. It can also be modified to make it wider or thicker by adding or removing a repeat of the pattern. I also added a fringe onto mine for a little bit of fun.

Next is a pair of colorwork socks. These are my Eat Your Greens Socks. I love how these turned out. I was looking for something nature inspired, and we was looking out the window at the trees and thought ‘I need leaves!’. So, that was how they started. I decided to go with this mirrored leaf look. I am about to start a second pair for myself using a light color of maybe grey or beige along with a rainbow yarn to create a fall look to the leaves. These socks have a really fun sole and a different gusset than I normally do. The gusset is made by doing increases on the sole and continuing with the striped colorwork. It gives a fun wedge design on the bottom of the sock.

And last, but certainly not least is another hat. This is my Raindrops Hat. This has a loose fit because of the increases to make the raindrops. The gauge is a bit fiddly with this hat, but honestly even measuring a swatch in stockinette should come out to the same numbers as the Raindrops. It can also be easily lengthened and instructions are provided in the pattern on how to do that. I also carried the raindrops up the crown of the hat, so it goes all the way up until the last few rounds of decreases.

I hope you love all these patterns. They were so much fun to make!

Sneak Peeks

Posted on August 10, 2022 by tanyalavine — Leave a comment

I know I said I was taking the summer off. But, sometimes as soon as you slow down to breathe the brain is able to kick into creative mode. That means I have a few things in progress that I wasn’t expecting. In addition to those, I am back on to a couple sweaters that I started ages ago. I had issues with them during editing, and have had to do a lot of work to try and get them fixed. That has meant a lot of work to create a spreadsheet to be able to plug in all my numbers and have my spreadsheet do all my figure checking/calculating for me. The garden is still taking a lot of my time, but now it’s just waiting for things to grow and then harvesting. We actually just started doing our fall planting. Today we are getting a big storm, so the garden is getting a really nice drink, and I’m getting the day off. Sort of. haha!

One of the things I have started is a sweater. I have a sweater that was already knit, but I was having some issues with it. I’ve now re-written the entire pattern and now have to knit it again to see if it’s going to fit as intended. I chose to use an acrylic yarn for this one. I went with Knit Picks Brava worsted weight. Sometimes I will use really nice yarn for a sweater, but being outside a lot and just busy doing a lot of cooking and everything else, I spill things on myself all the time. So, for sweaters around the house that I want to keep looking nice, acrylic is my favorite. I love being able to just throw them in the washer and dryer, without thinking twice. I’ve had nice sweaters accidentally end up in the hamper, and as you can imagine the result was heartbreaking.

As you can see I’m not very far into this re-knit, but hopefully I’ll be able to start getting some projects finished.

One of the projects I should be able to finish soon is a pair of socks. These are my Not So Plaid Socks. The pattern is a knit and purl stitch that creates a plaid look, without the colorwork. This gives the opportunity for someone that is more of a beginner knitter when it comes to socks to have a lovely pattern without having to worry about delving into colorwork. I know many people that are really put off by colorwork. I always say that you should just go for anything and give it a try, but if you aren’t ready then there is no reason to not have a fun pattern that gives you a pattern and some texture. I chose to use Chroma Fingering. This gave a color change with no work on my part. The Chroma has a nice long color change, which gives more of a fade type of look.

Next I have a pair of fingerless mittens. These are a great quick project. I still need to find some time to work on them, but when I do they should fly off my needles. These have a lovely texture, which is simply a type of bobble. I have called them Tied In Knots. I have a bit of pattern work to do on these, to make sure my numbers are all sound. I’m planning to have 3 or 4 sizes available on these. Because they are a unisex pattern, I want to have sizes from small female to large male. For these ones I am using Cloudborn Highland Superwash Sock yarn. It’s a nice yarn that is giving me some nice stitch definition. It also comes in smaller skeins. Most of these sizes will only require about 200 yards, so the smaller skeins are perfect. This one is difficult to get right now, but I bought a bunch of it on clearance, so it’s a great one for me to use.

Lastly, I have a shawl started. This will be a triangular shawl in a Freia Shawl, fingering weight yarn. I haven’t decided on the size yet, though. I think that is going to depend on when I run out of yarn. I am contemplating something that can be wrapped around the neck like a scarf, as opposed to a big full shawl.

I think that is pretty much everything for now. Hopefully soon I will have some of these finished and off for both testing and editing. At this rate it’ll likely be more into September before this happens. This summer is flying by, and it’s hard to believe it’s already August! That means it’s almost time for me to buckle down and get things done. Thanks so much for reading!

New Releases!

Posted on November 3, 2021November 3, 2021 by tanyalavine — Leave a comment

Now that the studio is complete I am playing catch up on all the projects I have on the go. This week alone I published 2 new patterns. My brain has decided that it needs to do everything right this second, which has resulted in complete overload. lol I’m slowly reeling myself back in to actually have a bit of focus. So, to start things off I wanted to let everyone know what is new right now.

First off, I published a new pair of fingerless mittens. These are called Caterpillar Mittens. They are made with fingering weight yarn, and have a very simple lace pattern that will resemble fluffy little caterpillars going across them. They are thick enough to keep your hands warm on a cool fall day, but have a little breathability so you don’t overheat as much as full mittens. 😀

I have also released a sock pattern called Flying South Socks. These socks have ‘V’s’ on them to resemble geese flying south for the winter, which is perfect for this time of year. We’re seeing a lot of birds flying south right now. Can’t say as I blame them, since we’re now getting frost and freeze warnings overnight. The lace pattern is pretty simple, with just yarn overs and some decreases, but it gives a bit of movement to the socks which is fun. 🙂

And lastly I released a scarf pattern. This is my Abstract Scarf. It’s a very gender neutral design that can be blinged up with your yarn choice. You can go all in with a sparkle, or do a dark neutral. It’s very easy to customize this for your special someone. 😀 I do love how the pattern pops with a light color or neutral, but the world is your oyster with this one.

That is everything that is new. I hope you all love what I have come up with this year. I have a sock pattern on the go right now, and a cowl that is about to go to an editor, so there is more coming down the pipeline before the end of the year, I hope. Keep an eye out for those. As always, if you want any sneak peeks, be sure to follow my Facebook page. That’s where I usually post my quick little snippets. I am also trying to be more active on Instagram with all that as well.

Sneak Peek!

Posted on April 14, 2021 by tanyalavine — Leave a comment

Well, it has taken the first three and a half months of this year to finally be better, but here I am. I had a horrible allergic reaction at the end of December, and am just getting to a point now where I can eat somewhat normally, and my voice is returning. I can never have nuts again, but I’m alive and feeling much better now. 😀 That means I’m back to work! Yay! I have been working on a few projects. I managed to knit a hat sample for a design back in January, but just last week managed to have enough brain power to write up the pattern. It is now in editing, so hopefully you’ll see that come across as a test knit in a week or two. 😀

This is my Diamond hat. It’s made with an aran weight yarn, so it’s nice and fluffy. The diamond pattern consists of slipped stitches, decreases and small cables. It’s actually a great introduction to cables if you were looking to carry on past my How To blog post about them. The cables involve two stitches at a time, and is a great way to practice cabling without a cable needle if you are feeling adventurous. (Honestly it sounds scarier than it really is.) Also, the decreases for the crown all happen in between the cables, so you can keep the pattern going to create a star effect on the top of the hat. It makes it a great hat for a pom pom. 😀

Next up is a scarf I am working on. This is made using the acorn stitch and is called “Oak Island Scarf”. If anyone has watched the show The Curse of Oak Island, you will have heard the fans being called Acorns. I find the show quite interesting, but I am from Nova Scotia originally and have always been fascinated with the Oak Island mystery and what the story really is. So, this is an homage to the story and the fans.

And the last project on the go right now is a pair of socks. These socks look complicated, but the pattern is very easily memorized. It will make them great for tv viewing! They are cuff down which make them a great beginner sock. I know how hard those toe up cast ons can be, and I have a lot of toe up socks, so I wanted to make another pair of cuff down, so as to include a variety of skill levels. They look very lacy, but honestly the pattern repeat only ever has knit stitches, a decrease and one yarn over. Again, these are another great way to get into the adventure of lace knitting, and you’ll get a comfy pair of socks out of them. 😀 Unfortunately, while these can be knit two at a time for the small and medium size, the large size is going to have a few rows that have yarn overs at the beginning or end of the row, which is going to make them a bit tricky.

I am hoping to get the scarf and socks knit in the next few weeks to then get them through editing. Thankfully the scarf is short and simple and shouldn’t take much time by the editor. That will mean a much faster turn around. 🙂 I am also going to start working on my last batch of edits for the few remaining un-edited patterns. That should be heading out in a few weeks, and then everything I have in my store will be tech edited. That will really free up my mind, because I constantly worry that there is a mistake in those patterns that I or testers never found. I’m too much of a perfectionist to let mistakes slide, so I want to make sure everything has had yet another set of eyes on it, and that everything looks as good as we can possible get it.

Thanks for coming along for the ride!!