Sneak Peek!

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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. 😀

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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.

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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.

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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!!

New Release – Heat Wave Socks

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Hello! I have finally released my Heat Wave Socks pattern. This little guy was not cooperating with me for the longest time. But, it pulled itself together and has now finished Tech Editing and Testing! It passed both with flying colors. 😀 Now it can be yours. These socks are great for any kind of weather, but especially for warmer weather. The great thing about hand knit socks is that you really can wear them year round. The lace detail in these socks gives some lovely air holes for breezes and AC to travel through to cool those feet down. I have to wear socks all the time thanks to foot issues, but if I have to wear them all the time, they may as well be cute, right? The pattern on these socks was designed to mimic the heat waves that come off pavement in the hot weather. You know the ones that seem to shimmer off the road like a mirage? The pattern zig zags up the leg to give a lot of interest. They also have a bit of a relaxed fit because of the lace, but are not droopy on the legs. If you have (as one of my testers put it) “fluffy” calves, then these will fit great! This pattern is worked cuff down, with a heel flap and gusset.

I hope you love them!!

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New Release! Diamond Socks

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I have finally released my Diamond Socks. I started these months and months ago, but they were a bit of a handful. lol So, after a few different versions of this pattern, I finally decided on this final product. The diamond pattern is not only on the top of the foot and leg, but also the bottom of the foot. Carrying the yarn across the foot seemed pretty ridiculous, so I decided that there is no reason for the bottom of the foot to not be pretty, too. I mean, if you have your feet up on an ottoman, then why shouldn’t everyone get too look at your pretty socks. 😀 The design is made by always carrying your two yarns together in a stranded colorwork design. I chose to make the main color with a solid color toe, gusset, heel and cuff. However, there is an alteration available if you would like, where you continue the checker pattern across the gusset. This is great if you don’t want to have to carry your yarn across all those gusset stitches. There is about 10-12 stitches that you would be carrying across at the end. I personally love how it looks to have the solid color gusset, so I went for it. It’s not that bad, but I did have to lock my yarn in a couple times as I worked across. However, since this is one of the few places where this comes up, it wasn’t a big deal. 😀 But, you have options. 😀

As always, my sock pattern comes in 3 sizes. Small, Medium and Large, which is 7.5″, 8.5″ and 9.5″ measured across the widest part of your foot. Because of the colorwork, these socks are not going to have a to of stretch. So, if you are a bit over one size, you will might want to go up a size. Doing a gauge swatch will let you know if you are going to be close or not.

I hope you love these as much as I do!

New Products!

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Today I launched another key chain. This one is a Mini Rosary and is available in two colors: Pink and Blue. I have to say that after a lot of trouble getting beads I like, I fell in love with the blue. The blue beads I ordered never arrived, so I had to find something else. These were sitting upstairs just waiting to become these key chains. 😀

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Also! On the design front, the test for the Scarf of Many Colors is wrapping up and that pattern will be launched in the next couple days. So, keep your eyes peeled for that one. 😀

I also have a new sock design that is in progress. I’m hoping to get this finished soon because I have a couple pairs of socks to make for a donation, and those will take priority when the yarn arrives for them. But, either way, these socks will be heading off for testing in the next month or so. I am really liking how they are turning out. 😀 Right now I am going back and forth on the heel color. I think I might do green for the heel, since the toes are grey. I think that will make a nice statement.

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And speaking of socks, I am hoping to get the third installment on How to Knit Socks up in the next few days.