Bite Me

$5

I've wanted to name a pattern Bite Me for a while now. Why? I don't know. Maybe I've been a bit grouchy lately. But having come up with the name, I had to come up with the pattern. Finally, the right idea presented itself in the form of a soft, snow-white skein of yarn and a handful of blood red buttons.

This little piece of faux-Victoriana is a quick project; light, lacy and warm, it is sure to attract the attention of the most desirable vampires.

It's simple. It's sweet. It's strange.

Bite Me.

Yarn: Sublime DK Cashmere Merino Silk (75% Extrafine Merino Wool, 20% Silk, 5% Cashmere); 127 yds/50 gr. One ball.
Finished size: 4.5” wide x 16” long, not including border.
Hook: US G/6 (4 mm).
Gauge: 22 sts x 18 rows = 4” over sc blo.
Notions: three ½” buttons; 4” ¾” wide grosgrain ribbon; sewing needle and thread; tapestry needle for weaving in ends.

A Little Bit of Serendipity

I went to the LYS yesterday, dragging all three children along. My two older love going to the store, in large part because the owner can generally be relied upon to offer them treats of one sort or another. And it's a bit of a break from the usual round of grocery store/drugstore/post office/bank. As I was parking in front of the store, my oldest daughter exclaimed, "I love going to Brigitte's. It's like going to someone's house to buy yarn!" (The store is, in fact, in an old house and has a very cozy feel.) Chubby-chan is generally neutral on the LYS experience but she wasn't feeling well yesterday and was grouchier than usual.

Sure enough, Brigitte offered Children #1 and #2 lollipops as soon as we came in, which they accepted with great enthusiasm. I was there to take photos of another teacher's scarf for a class that she plans to teach but the camera wasn't working properly and I kept fussing with the batteries whilst trying to comfort the cranky 1-year old and keep the sugar high of the other two under control.

Suddenly in the midst of all the chaos I happened to glance down at the counter where a customer had put the Nashua Handknits' Spring Linen Collection pattern book and I almost screamed, "That's my sweater!"


It was like running into an old friend. I finished the sweater sometime last fall and had pretty much forgotten all about it. But it's back and I love the way it was photographed (and I'm pretty chuffed to see it on the cover). Nashua doesn't yet have their spring collection up on their website so these photos are the best I can do for now.

Thank you!

Yet what is any ocean but a multitude of drops?
--Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell

Thank you so much to everyone who bought patterns from me and from all the other Help for Haiti designers over the past month. Please imagine me blowing kisses at all of you. I just totaled up the figures from sales from January 16 to yesterday and I'm very pleased to say that I will be writing a check to Save the Children for $525. It would have been very difficult for me to simply donate that amount on my own but thanks to the extra publicity from Ravelry and the generosity of knitters everywhere, I can justify it.

About 10 days ago, Casey on Ravelry estimated that the total amount raised was (at that point) around $80,000. I think that was just pattern sales and didn't even include the auctions, but I'm not sure. In any event, it is an impressive sum that I am honored to contribute to.

Thank you.

Leap Year Cowl

$1.99 from Knit Picks

As of last night, I've joined Knit Picks new Independent Designer's Program with a little crochet project. Knit Picks published some of my first designs, the Kimono Styled Sweater, the Seafoam Shawl and the Tie-cropped Cardigan way back when, and believe it or not I'm feeling a little sentimental about hanging out with them again. The pattern is only $1.99 as are all their IDP patterns and it's available only from KP.

The cowl itself has a little bit of a history, but not much. It began with two partial balls of Baby Alpaca Grande Super Bulky by Plymouth Yarn Co. The Baby Alpaca reminds me of a Persian cat, all softness and fluff, but as you sink your hands into it, you think, "Where's the cat?" Knit Picks, naturally asked me to re-work it in one of their yarns and we went with Swish Bulky. Swish is also very soft, but much sturdier (more of a well-groomed American Short Hair). The end result is a bit different; less drape, more substance, more gender-neutral--but still just as warm and nice to have around your neck.

Because the original was worked with two partial skeins, I'm not really sure how much yardage went into it. It was a bit taller than the Knit Picks version but worked with the same hook so I'm guessing it was a few more yards than the Swish which comes in 137-yard skeins. The pattern is very easy to adjust, though, if you want it wider/narrower/taller. Chain fewer stitches for a smaller cowl, chain more for one of those enormous loopy things, buy extra yarn and just keep going up--you get the idea.

The Leap Year Cowl also makes excellent princess hair.

San Valentino Cowl

(Mini-update: since I posted yesterday, I've had a few more sales and the donation amount is now at $450--think we can get to an even $500? I'm keeping my fingers crossed!)

$5.00

As promised, here is the San Valentino Cowl. I was intrigued by the idea of cabled Xs and Os (kisses and hugs), especially with Valentine's Day coming up and with a skein of bright pink Malabrigo languishing in my yarn cupboard. With a little help from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury I learned how to make the enclosed circular cables. Matching them up with the Xs was a little tricky; the number of stitches changes a couple of times and it took a few tries before I got the OXOX row to balance nicely on top of the XOXO row. But it works! A huge, huge THANK YOU is due to my mother, Rosemary Mygatt, who knit the sample shown above and patiently waded through a bunch of notes and trial charts and made many, many corrections and useful suggestions. Thank you, Mummy!

Knitting-wise, it's not a big project--just one skein of Malabrigo worsted--but the cables are not for the faint of heart. They're done over a total of 24 rows repeated again and again, and once you get the hang of the quirks they're not hard but you do need to pay attention. If you've never done cables before, I wouldn't, in all honesty, recommend it. However, if looking for a bit of a challenge this might be a good project for you.

Just the facts:

Finished size: Approximately 27” long x 8.5” wide.
Gauge: 22 sts x 13.5 rows = 4” in cable patt with larger needles.
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted (100% merino wool); color: Shocking (pink); 1 skein
(100 gr/216 yards).
Needles: US Size 8 (5.0 mm), US Size 9 (5.5 mm).
Notions: 6 buttons (approximately ¾” in diameter); cable needle; tapestry
needle.


As with all my other patterns, 50% of the profits from this from now through Valentine's Day will go to Save the Children's relief efforts in Haiti.