#FridayFavorites

It’s finally Friday! I got some pretty exciting ((baby!)) news from a very good friend of mine last week that is inspiring this Friday Favorites. I freaking love to knit baby things, which is a little odd because I find actual human babies to be slightly terrifying. I first started knitting baby sweaters because they’re a really great way to learn different construction methods and apply stitch patterns without a whole lot of commitment, but now instead of letting them sit in a pile, buttonless and sad, they get to be worn and loved and pooped on by tiny humans. So here’s a handful of some of my favorite baby patterns!

Gingersnap by Kristen Rettig

I just think this is such a fun little sweater. I love the colors of the sample, but really the possibilities are endless with this pattern. The construction looks very simple making it a perfect project to knit on the go or for the inevitable Netflix binge.

Baby Duck Booties by Maegan Anderson

These are one of my top favorites. They’re so charming and classic. I mean, shoes for babies is a pretty useless concept, but these are more like socks that look like shoes right? There’s a baby and a toddler version of this pattern and here’s hoping someone will figure out an adult version because I would 100% wear them.

Colorwork Baby Pullover by Susan Mills

This sweater is so striking to me. I love the contrast between the traditional fairisle pattern and the fun, modern color pallet. It does use a lot of different colors, but you’d definitely have a lot of left over yarn to play with (gifts are my favorite way to justify buying more yarn).

Seamless Baby Hooded Pullover by Maggie van Buiten

This is another one I would probably make for myself. It’s a casual classic and I can just imagine how cozy and snuggly a little one would be in this sweater. I love the seed stitch hem and cuff and the oversized buttons are so cute. There’s two sizes and the pattern is free!

Baby Sweater Buffet Supplement by Allyson Dykhuizen

This isn’t a full pattern but I just couldn’t resist a snowsuit. I’m a sucker for stripes and onesies, what can I say?

 

#FridayFavorites

We had about a day of random 60 degree weather the other day and wow, what a shock to the system. We were considering sitting out in lawn chairs with beers but it started raining. Running to the store in just a sweatshirt in the middle of January felt very weird and kind of naughty. But the reprise is over and it’s back to freezing in time to do anything.

My mittens are off to my tech editor, and I found a title I’m happy with in case anyone was worried.. and now I just have to be awake long enough in the daylight to take pictures. Too bad all the snow melted away and everything is muddy.

Anyways, it’s Fridayyyyy so you know what that means! Here are some shiny new patterns I found on Ravelry if you’re looking to fill up your queue for the year.

Scratch & Peck Shawl by: Ann Meyer

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a sucker for colorwork. This one is mosaic knit so you’re only working with one yarn at a time. I’m personally not a big shawl wearer but I always want to make them. This one has a pretty modern and graphic pattern but all wrapped up would actually be pretty subtle. It’s also currently on sale so get at it!

 

 

Big Stitch Beanie by: Nailya Plaskey

I’ve been seeing this one a whole bunch on the internet. It’s such a simple idea – it’s knitting that looks like bigger knitting! I’m kind of mad I didn’t think of it first, but IT’S SO CUTE! I’d totally wear one of these, I’d make them for everyone, I’d put ’em on a baby, I’d put one on a dog. I’m a big fan of giant pom-poms lately and that multi colored one is working hard.

 

19 Fishes on a Mitten by: Magdalena Svanberg

This is a free pattern. There’s something charming and silly about it that I just like. This is the designer’s premier pattern though the pattern is only in Swedish at this point. It’s fully charted so if you’re at all familiar with how mittens work I’m sure you could figure this guy out. I’ve been trying to figure out what to knit for K since I’m a scrub and haven’t knit him anything (sweater curse, duh) but this pattern might have to be adjusted for him. There’s a bit of an inside joke about fish with his friend group. Playing with marled yarn might be really nice for these.

Non-Traditional Kihnu Style Mittens by: Mary Germain

I knew the second I saw these that were were gauge sisters. I don’t know too many people who like to knit at 10 stitches per inch or use US 1 needles but there are some special people out there who do it. I’m not crazy about the cuffs on these but I also have never heard of kihnu style mittens so I be checking those out shortly.

Hearth and Snow by: Ninja Chickens

This is just a good solid hat, and hey one without colorwork! It looks warm and practical but also stylish and unisex. I never love the hats that I make but I also don’t have a cabled hat so that very well could be the problem. I also have a large head and a shit-ton of hair so that could be the real problem.

 

 

#WIP WEDNESDAY and NEW PATTERN!

Turning thoughts into things! Turns out it’s pretty cool to re-knit old things you’ve made. It’s crazy what a few years of experience will do. I remade that little santa stocking I talked about here and turned it into a little pattern. The new ones look way better than the old one if I do say so myself. My yarn choice/needle size is more effective and I used a duplicate stitch for the buckle instead of trying to knit it straight into the pattern. The pattern is available in my Ravelry Store if you’re looking for a quick little stash busting project. Also a great last minute gift for those people on your list who aren’t exactly knit-worthy but aren’t quite on your no-knit list this year.

Now my brain is buzzing with other little ornaments I could make which hopefully don’t involve a trip to the yarn store… We’ll see what I can come up with tonight!

I wish it were cold enough to wear these all the time

Knitting Blog Challenge Day 6

What is your favorite piece that you’ve knit?

If anyone has followed any of my other social medias you’ll know that these mittens are my absolute favorite thing I’ve ever knit, and possibly ever made. I worked at developing this pattern for like three years. I tried a bunch of different yarns and cuffs and thumb shapes. I think I made five different mittens until I landed on these. I am so so so proud of them and I love wearing them.

I finished knitting them right before Valentine’s Day last year. K took me to the Wisconsin Dells for a little getaway that weekend and IT WASN’T EVEN COLD ENOUGH TO WEAR THEM. We went on a hike around Devil’s Lake that weekend, there were people all over the ice fishing and hanging out, but it was warm enough for actual living mutant mosquitos to be swarming around. It was a great weekend, but I digress.. I wore these guys on the hike anyways so I could have him take some photos for me since it’s pretty hard to take photos using your own hands as models.

Not only is this my favorite pattern, but it seems to be everyone else’s favorite of all the patterns I’ve published. If you’re interested in make a pair for yourself (or your mother-sister-daughter-grandma-girlfriend-bestfriend because the holidays are eminent) my Russian Flower Mittens pattern is available on Ravelry and theres also a matching hat pattern!

#FridayFavorites

Last weekend I made the coziest pair of sweater socks. I made both socks in like 36 hours which didn’t even seem real to me since I usually knit with needles no larger than US 2. They knit up so quick and easy that I made a hat the next day in practically one sitting (It could have been one sitting, but I woke up the next morning and didn’t like the crown decreases so I ripped that all out and made it better). I’ve got them all blocking in the kitchen right now and hope to have a pattern worked up sometime this weekend, but the weekend tends to get away from me.

Studland by: Clare Devine 

I’m really not even sure why I’m so drawn to these. Usually I’m interested in more textural pieces or crazy colorwork pieces but there’s something so simple about these that I just love. I do really just love the yarn color and I was drawn in by the ‘lifestyle’ photos. Lifestyle photos are something I’m not very good at when photographing my own work, granted it’s pretty difficult to take normal looking pictures of your own feet when you don’t have a tripod or an adorable apartment.

Ola Sokken by: Lill C. Schei

I’ve been kind of obsessed with gray and white and gray and yellow lately and these bring the best of those together. They’re geometric and fun and would certainly keep your toes warm all winter.

Keel by: Brenda York

I just love how classic these socks are. They would make a great gift for anyone and would look great in any color combo. They make me think about sitting a porch watching autumn leaves fall drinking a cup of hot cider.

 

#FridayFavorites

Since I’ve spent the week wishing I could wrap myself in as much warm shit as possible and it looks like its going to rain all weekend – tanking my very limited social engagement… here’s a few of my favorite warm and cozy looking things I wish I had the yarn and patience to knit.

Stornaway Throw by: Anita Grahn

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/stornoway-throw

I think at one point I planned on knitting this for my mom. Theres just something about those cables and the drape of this fabric that makes me want to snuggle up under it. It’s intimidating to buy all that yarn though because theres always a solid chance I’d get bored half way through.

Yoga Shawl by Andrea Mowry

Andrea Mowry

Andrea Mowry

Andrea Mowry

I think this pattern is the perfect excuse to wear a giant blanket around all the time. I really like how many different ways this can be worn. I could probably get a lot of stuff done while also being wrapped in a blanket.

Persian Dreams by: Jenise Hope

Jenise Reid

liesbraam

HelenKnitsUK

I have been drooling over this pattern for a loooong time now. I don’t even have a good reason for not knitting it already. Stranded knitting is kind of my shit. I just don’t know what color way I would go with. I like the simplicity of two colors or the muted colors but the first image is just so striking and fun.

 

#WIPWednesday

Its another dreary, gloomy day. I’m playing the annual fall game of chicken with the weather – see how long we can freeze in the house before I have to turn the heat on. The weather might win this one early as I’m wrapped in two blankets on the couch, the cat hasn’t left his pillow in hours, and The Boy has the mattress heater turned on while he sleeps. My coffee went cold. I’m avoiding the shower because I don’t want to deal with wet hair for the next four hours. I wanted to quilt something today but my studio feels colder than the living room for some reason. It’s really very tempting to just stay under all these blankets binge watching something and knitting away at my shawl.

http://www.ravelry.com/designers/kristen-mclaren

But alas the lure of feeling productive beckons. As of yesterday I’ve officially been publishing knitting patterns on Ravelry for one year. Today I have ten patterns available!   Thinking about it blows my mind. I’ve recently decided to get very serious about producing patterns. I started by having my last pattern test knit. I put out a call on Instagram and a few people agreed to help me out. This ended up being a mostly disappointing experience. For my latest pattern, I went with a professional Tech Editor. So far it’s been really good, although getting my first draft back was like getting a term paper back covered in red marks. It forced me to really edit myself though and I ended up reworking a bunch of stuff I was too lazy to deal with in the first draft. All good things. Much learning.

Anyways – since I’m kind of refusing to leave my nest on the couch today except for more tea and the resulting potty breaks – It’s time to go through my old patterns and apply some things I’ve learned over the last year to fix ’em up.

#FridayFavorites

Today I woke up to a day that belongs in November. Everything is gray; it’s so cold; all I want to do is cuddle up on the couch and binge on Netflix. So before I do that I thought I would share some of my Ravelry favorites.

The Bird by Karin Aida

Karin Aida

Karin Aida

@instanthuman

I think I found these socks around November of 2016 sooooo…. clearly they resonated with me. I never got around to knitting them though. November is always mad rush of Christmas knitting. Plus these have a drastically different stitch count for socks than what I tend to use and I never bothered to do the math or buy thicker yarn to make these. Maybe this year… I know The Boy would get a kick out of them.

Sunwalker by Melanie Berg

Melanie Berg

Melanie Berg

Melanie Berg

I’ve had two skeins of  Malabrigo sock yarn sitting in my stash for almost three years now. Part of the problem is that it feels too precious to knit with – I’ve been waiting and waiting to find the perfect project to use it for because I don’t want to waste it. The other part of the problem is that it’s variegated and I just don’t have any clue what to do with variegated yarns. They’re sooo beautiful in the skein but as soon as I start knitting I hate it. Long story short, this pattern might actually be perfect for this yarn.

Pomme de pin Cardigan by Amy Christoffers

Amy Christoffers

Amy Christoffers

Amy Christoffers

Theres just something about this pattern that I really like. It’s such a grandpa sweater shape and color but the lace makes it less frumpy and much more feminine. It could also be the way the woman holds her body in each photograph – the sweater seems like such a security blanket that it makes me want to knit one for myself.

 

If you’re perusing Ravelry this weekend, all of my sock patterns are currently on sale through Oct. 7 at midnight using the coupon code: hellofall