Summer Swatch Me Week 11!

The Summer Swatch Me Sampler is a done deal! Several knitters from our group have already blocked and are sharing their photos as I type. Many more are still working on their samplers, so it will be a few weeks before we have a group post to share all the projects.

You can see the last few stitch patterns in the photo above, and the first few in the photo below.

And some details in the photo below...

And a close-up of the border below, showing the bead placement.

The photo below shows how I suggest you block your sampler. Use the finished dimensions in the pattern directions as a guide. Weave in your ends to the wrong side, but do not clip them. Soak your piece in cool water, giving it a wash with soap if needed. Follow the general care guidelines for the yarn you used. Be sure the piece is rinsed well and totally wet. Press out the excess water and roll in a towel. Lay flat and pin out each point (where there is a bead there is a point!) Make sure to work evenly, using a ruler if needed to achieve the suggested blocking dimensions. If you used a different gauge/yarn/needles just block to your chosen dimensions. Leave the piece alone until totally dry. Remove the pins carefully, clip the ends and enjoy!

Here is my sampler blocking, and you can see how I dealt with the points and the corners.

The winner of the little blue skein of handspun yarn is LambChop (Heather) and her skein will be in the mail tomorrow! I'll be back in a few days with more Summer Swatch Me fun. Until then, Knit on!

Summer Swatch Me Week 10!

Hi everyone! This is just a quick update with news that the Swatch Me Group has started on the sampler border. The chart was posted on Sunday and several people have already completed their samplers! Photos have started to appear and I can't wait to see all the various yarns and how each one blocks out. I will keep this week short and sweet (and quite late) but I will be back on Friday with a longer post, including blocking directions and finished photos, along with the winner of my little skein give-away from last week.

I plan another little "raffle" to celebrate the end of our summer group project. We are not at the end yet, but in preparation I want to warn all my group members that we will be having a large group blog post, where I can showcase all your work. I hope many of you will participate. It means you send me photos of your finished work, along with your project specs. For every finished project that you send me a photo of, I put your name in the raffle one time. All the photos that you send become part of the final summer post. Stand by for details!

Until Friday, knit on!

Summer Swatch Me Week 9!

At long last, we have come to the final stitch pattern for the Summer Swatch Me Sampler. This week, we have Traveling Leaf. Most group members will be adding this stitch pattern to their samplers, and next week we will move on to our border pattern, which should be fun. This stitch pattern is one of my favorites. We have two side projects this week! Number one is Traveling Leaf Mitts, which are made using Land O Lace Kabob, in the Ramsey colorway. This yarn is delightfully springy and fun to knit with. These mitts are very well fitted, with a subtle beaded edge and a thumb gusset.
They keep your hands warm without getting in the way, so you can write, knit or play your guitar in style!
Plus, they look great! These have the BadKitten teenage stamp of approval...
We also have a quick, one skein scarf. You can use any of the Summer Swatch Me stitch patterns for a scarf, but I put a little pattern together using this stitch pattern and one skein of Crystal Palace Kid Merino, in the colorway Plum Tones.
My final bookmark for this project, the Traveling Leaf Bookmark, is shown above using one more skein of my FiberOptics handspun. I have one more skein left of the spindle-spun yarn I made for this project, plus the little bits you see below. The picture is a bit funky, but the remaining skein is about 30 yards of lace weight, spindle-spun by me from FiberOptics fiber. It is blues and black (darker than the picture) and is spun so that is will stripe with long repeats (like the bookmark above.) I spin pretty well, so the yarn is even and balanced. It is enough for a bookmark, a pretty swatch or just to play with. Would you like my last little skein? Well, I want to know how many people are actually paying attention! All you have to do is leave a comment. Be sure you include your email address in your comment, so I can contact you if you win. I will take each comment, throw it in a hat and have BadKitten pull one winner out for me. I will ship anywhere, so your location doesn't matter!
I'll be back next week with our sampler border. Until then, happy knitting!

Summer Swatch Me week 8!

Happy Sunday! We are on our second to last stitch pattern for the Summer Swatch Me project and this week's stitch pattern is called Champagne. Most of our group members will be adding this stitch pattern to their samplers. Look who is home! And not a moment too soon, because it was really hard to photograph this one without my model. I call this the Champagne Hug. This was made using one skein of Jade Sapphire 2-ply 100% Mongolian Cashmere, in the Lichen or Not colorway. You can't see the beads in the photographs, but there are silver lined teal ab beads sprinkled throughout.
You can wear this piece a few different way and it looks pretty elegant from all the angles. The pattern for this is more of a recipe, with direction to customize for a perfect fit. Any of our Summer Swatch Me stitch patterns can be used.
I have been playing with our stitch patterns in these "side projects" and this week is no exception. The stitch pattern for the sampler is worked with a stockinette stitch ground, but for the hug I used a garter stitch ground. This works well with some stitch patterns and not so well with others. I think it works very well with this stitch pattern, and I invite you to swatch some of our other stitch patterns to see what you get!
Here you can see my Champagne Bookmark, for those group members working on bookmarks. Again, I used some handspun from my FiberOptics collection.

Do you like what you see? You can still join my Summer Swatch Me group. Read the details here. We have one more stitch pattern next week, a border for the sampler the following week and then a bunch of weeks focused on playing with our stitch patterns. We will do some pattern manipulations and discuss designing a unique stole using our various stitch patterns and manipulations. I will be sharing charts for several other projects, including a cowl and two full stoles, plus charts for alternate stole centers and goodness know what else I will come up with between now and then. I better go knit...

Summer Swatch Me Week 7!

Happy August to everyone. I am pleased to report that the weather here in New York is much more comfortable this week, improving the quality of my knitting time immensely! I hope the same is true for all of you. Our Summer Swatch Me stitch pattern this week is Reverse Pod. You'd think I could some up with a better name for this lovely pattern, eh? I figure some of you are ready to add this right on to your samplers...so the chart has been posted to our group.

Before I introduce our "side Pattern" this week I will share a seasonal cooking tip. I am a fiend for fresh beets, and on the east coast of the USA it is beet season. Here is what I do: Trim and scrub the beets. Scrape them with a sharp paring knife. Rub them with olive oil, salt and fresh black pepper. Toss some herbs in if you have them. Wrap the whole group of beets in foil, sealing the package by folding the foil over, to make it as air-tight as possible. Bake for two hour at 400F. Let them cool, slice and enjoy! Be sure you drizzle any juices from cooking over the beets. You can also serve them in a sweet vinaigrette dressing...

All right then. This week we have Reverse Pod Socks. I used our week 7 Summer Swatch Me pattern, but I took a few liberties. First, I enlarged the pattern from 14 to 16 stitches. Group members can compare our stitch pattern chart with the sock chart to see what I did. Second, I used twisted knit stitches for the waves in the pattern which give an embossed look, especially in the yarn I used. These socks are worked with a finer weight yarn than our last socks and with more stitches cast-on. They use classic sock construction and a different but classic heal stitch pattern, called Eye of Partridge. The yarn that I selected for this pattern is from Lorna's Laces and called Shepherd Sock Yarn (in Periwinkle.) It is a delight to work with. It has wonderful stitch definition, really lets the twisted knit stitches pop, and makes a really elegant sock. Apologies for the photo sans model, but I just finished the second sock and my lovely model is still away! The two socks are mirror images of each other, which I like to do. Once you get the idea of manipulating our charts to do this, it is just a short jump to using the same trick to design a larger piece. More on that in a few weeks!

For those of you working on bookmarks, here is our Reverse Pod Bookmark, using another of my handspun FiberOptics yarns, made from their lovely pencil roving.

Our week 7 pattern can be used to make a scarf and would also be a really nice hat. Come to think of it, it would make some killer mitts too! I can't wait to see what our group comes up with. If you like what you see you can still join us at the Summer Swatch Me group! Read all about it here. I'll be back next week with even more. Until then, knit on!

Summer Swatch Me Week 6!

This week marks a special milestone, as we are now officially at the half-way point of summer! I don't know about where you are, but where I am we hit near 100 degrees F yesterday. Sounds like smack in the middle of summer to me! Luckily, we took pictures for today's post last month... Our Summer Swatch Me stitch pattern this week is Fountain, and most group members will be adding this stitch pattern to their Summer Swatch Me Samplers. This makes our 6th (out of 9) patterns for the sampler.
We have two side projects this week. First we have the Fountain Mitts, which I knit using one skein of Land O Lace Steffi, in the Mazeppa colorway. Just as an aside, when I went to the Land O Lace website to snag the link for this post, I noticed they are having a 10% off sale (plus free or reduced shipping) through July 26th. I am not trying to lead you to temptation or anything, but I couldn't resist (the temptation) myself, and I thought I would share my discovery with you.
I just LOVE this colorway. It is hard to appreciate from my photographs, but there are specks of pale purple which create an almost iridescent quality.
The yarn has excellent stitch definition, so the pattern looks almost embossed. The stitches are NOT twisted, although I worked these at a firm gauge.
Like the previous mitt patterns in this series, they have a fitted thumb gusset and beads embellishing the wrist. The pattern is well suited to additional bead placements, if you so desire!
Our second side project this week is for a simple scarf, the Summer Swatch Me Scarf, using one skein of a special yarn and some beads for good measure. I used Crystal Palace Kid Merino in the Sage Colorway, along with some silver lined gold rainbow beads. Delicate, quick and a perfect gift. The scarf can be made using any one of the nine stitch patterns we will be using this summer, but this week I made a scarf using Fountain.
Finally, we have this week's Summer Swatch Me Fountain Bookmark, using another one of my handspun yarns, from my FiberOptics stash.
Try to stay cool, while still surrounding yourselves in fiber. That is my plan! I will be back next week with more Summer Swatch Me abundance. The project started the first day of summer and will remain open to new participants until the very last day of summer. If you like what you see and want access to all the projects and stitch patterns I have been posting about, come on over and join us! You can read all about it here. Until next week, knit on!

Summer Swatch Me Week Five!

This week, our Swatch Me stitch pattern is Trails. For those of you working on the Summer Swatch Me Sampler, the chart is now posted at our group! I apologize for this week's delay, but we had to fetch BadKitten from the heart of Amish country and relocate her for the next three weeks of her summer adventure. Before I show you our special Trails pattern for this week, I will force you to see my weekend photographs... Here we are, driving through it. Amish country!
I had no idea how much goodness we would find there! First, right in the city of Lancaster we found the Quilt and Textile Museum, and took in an exhibit of traditional Amish quilts. It was lovely. Second, we drove right by Labadie Looms, in Bird-In-Hand, Pennsylvania. She has looms, spinning wheels, weaving and knitting yarns and spinning fiber. I was pretty impressed! Finally, we ate at a decent Thai restaurant in Lancaster...
We shopped for fabric (for BadKitten's next quilt) at Zook's, in Intercourse, Pennsylvania. The selection was overwhelming. BK selected edibles...
The Lancaster Bead Company, in Lancaster, has a tasty selection of my favorite type of beads (8/0 Japanese!) Left to right: Sparkling Metallic Gold Lined Crystal, Sea foam Lined Crystal AB, Transparent Gray Rainbow Luster, Cobalt Lined Sapphire AB, Amethyst Lined Crystal AB.
And in Intercourse, Pennsylvania, we found a really nice yarn shop with a good selection of yarn including this sock weight yarn that I had never seen before. It is from Knit One Crochet Too.
A buggy driving by...
The corn just goes on and on...
A farm across from where we stayed!
Finally, this week's special Summer Swatch Me pattern is for Trail Socks. I used Bear Foot sock yarn from Mountain Colors, in the Harmony Plum colorway. The yarn is soft, silky and strong. A great sock yarn and very nice to knit with.
This sock is knit from the cuff down and uses traditional sock construction, including a heel flap and a turned heel. They fit very well.
The colors really work, with enough variation to be interesting and not enough to distract from the stitch pattern. The pattern includes directions for making the socks mirror each other, which is a fun detail.
They have the BadKitten teenager stamp of approval!

For those of you working on Summer Swatch Me Bookmarks, our Trail Bookmark is worked in yarn from my FiberOptics collection of handspun yarns.

I'll be back next week with our sixth Summer Swatch Me stitch pattern. If you like what you see you can still join us. Read all about it here. Until next week, knit on!

Summer Swatch Me Week Four!

We are fast approached the middle of our Summer Swatch Me Sampler, with the fourth stitch pattern posted today. This week, the stitch pattern is called Broken Leaves. This is an interesting pattern, in that it can be blocked flat for lace or worked in a more firm gauge, with heavier yarn, for a really interesting textured fabric.

Our small project this week is the Moss Hat. You can see how I took advantage of the texture we can get with this stitch pattern, and how different the stitch pattern looks in this hat, compared to the sampler swatch above. My hat was worked using Fleece Artist Nova Sock Yarn, which has been marinating in my stash for a few years!
For those of you working on bookmarks, I think you can see another lovely feature of this pattern. It undulates, so shows off color changes well and has a nice scallop. The bookmark yarn was hand spun from my FiberOptics collection!
Finally, this week we have another tutorial. To prepare for next week (when our side project is a pair of socks) I am sharing my baby sock pattern, including written directions and step-by-step photographs. It is a great way to learn how to make a traditional top down sock in a very small project. One evening, one sock. Use up your left-over sock yarn. Make one and use it as an ornament! Make two and give them to a baby...

Do you like what you see? You are welcome to join us for the Summer Swatch Me project, to access to all the stitch patterns, projects and tutorials. We will be going strong right through September. Read the details here!

Next week I will back with more! Until then, knit on!