Summer Swatch Me Week Two!

This week we will be working with stitch pattern two, which I call Lotus. For those of you living vicariously, here is our game plan! Most people are working on our Swatch Me Sampler, and they will be adding Lotus to the sampler that they cast-on last week. If you happen to be on Ravelry, you can see some great photos of our Summer Swatch Me projects through this link. You can also see several (finished even!) Peacock Mitts from last week by following the same link. Several people are working on bookmarks, and here is my Lotus Bookmark, made using more of that pretty FiberOptics handspun. Details of that can be found here!
Our special project this week is the Lotus Hat. The pattern for these cute hats will be posted to our group tonight and includes three sizes. They are knit using Mini Mochi, from Crystal Palace, which is a pleasure to work with and comes in amazing colors.
Along with the pattern I am also posting my special Hat Tutorial, which includes all the techniques I used to make these hats, directions for making a hat in this style using any of the stitch patterns we will be playing with, directions for customizing the hat for any size and in any yarn, AND a worksheet to help you do that.
The striping color I used here is called Violet Rainbow, and I am very fond of it. So fond, in fact, that you will see it again in another project. The solid color (above) is called Purple Rain.
Finally, here is a picture of BadKitten, showing off the quilt that she designed and made in the past few weeks. She left today for a summer program, and took it with her to decorate her dorm bed. What ever will I do???
I imagine that I will knit (and wipe my tears with my knitting.) So for those of you who are late to the party, the Summer Swatch Me project will be open all summer long. We are only starting week two with tonight's post and I have so much more to share with all of you that I get palpitations just thinking about it! If you want in, check out the details here. And until next week, knit on!

Happy Summer! Swatch Me Week One...

The Mimosa are in bloom, and that could only mean one thing. Summer is here! The Swatch Me group is ready to roll. In case you are late to the party, the Swatch Me project group will remain open all summer long. If you like what you see, check out the details here and join us! I thought I would give you a peak at what we are doing on week one. First of all, we are doing a tutorial on my preferred fingerless mitt construction. The pictures below are from the tutorial, but the pattern is something new that will be ready November 2010. These have textural patterning on the hands and the thumb gussets and are worked in Malabrigo Sock Yarn.
Here is the cheesecake shot, for good measure...
Our Swatch Me patern for week one is called Peacock. You can see my bookmark swatch, which was knit with one of those cute skeins of yarn that I spun up a few weeks ago.
This week we are also starting a Summer Swatch Me mitt pattern using the same construction technique shown in the tutorial. These mitts showcase pattern one, Peacock. The yarn is ShaSha from Land O Lace, in the Duluth colorway.

And of course, the charming BadKitten, forever humoring her mother.

Finally, here is a photo from the main Swatch Me project, our sampler. Once again Peacock, our first stitch pattern! I think that will keep everyone busy for a week, don't you? Until next week, knit on!

Live from TNNA: The New Victorian Scarf

Well, not really live because I am here in New York and TNNA is in Ohio. But my newest design is there and representing me! This one is called The New Victorian. I had the pleasure of working with a new Jade Sapphire yarn called AngelWing. This is the same yarn I used for The Netsuke Wrap, but it is now available in all the hand dyed Jade Sapphire colorways. The yarn is lace weight, hand spun and 100% Mongolian Cashmere. I think it is one of the softest yarns I have ever used. This project uses two skeins of the yarn, plus a handful of 6/0 triangle beads.
The shape is very wearable, wrapping around your shoulders and staying put; perfect to show off a special shawl pin.
This is the piece blocking, so you can see the shape. The pattern is available from shops that stock Jade Sapphire yarns. It is brand new and will take a little while to make it to your LYS. Ask them to order it for you if you want!