Over the last year or two I sent a few projects in to different books but that is usually where my involvement ends.  I don’t see photos and/or edits until the actual book is sent to me.  This does have the added excitement of seeing them almost for the first time when the book is released :-)

The first book I want to tell you about is Stitching In the Stacks that is published with Cooperative Press with Sarah Barbour who is the author.  It’s now up for pre-order in digital and hard copy format.  There is a really beautiful collection of pattern and I’m very proud to be a part of it.

My two contributions are a pencil case:

Plus a hooded vest.  Before I sent it off I took a few photos of this on my oldest son and I must also put a blog post up with a few of those photos!

The second book that I have a contribution in is Free Spirit Shawls.   My copy of the book arrived last week and it’s a really interesting book.  As well as 20 shawl patterns there’s lots of good info in this about different ways to wear shawls as well as different shawl construction types.  I’ve taken a few photos of my shawl Euclid from the book, it’s st st and garter and all the shaping is done using short rows.  (Easy to tell it’s mine right!)

Born and Bred is a pattern book that uses Yorkshire yarns and is designed by Yorkshire designer, Ann Kingstone. When I first spotted this book at the end of last year I thought it was a wonderful idea, educating knitters on different yarn varieties and supporting local businesses.
I’ve known Ann for several years now and I’ve watched her go from strength to strength in her designing. This book is a collaboration between Ann and Baa Ram Ewe and it works beautifully. The casual layout with typewriter style font and a textured beige background create the perfect backdrop for this collection making it a pleasure to read. There is a huge range of projects and knitting styles in the book from stranded colourwork to cables with a felted project added in for good measure along the way!
I love the unique factor in this book that links the yarn, project and designer so tightly together so I wanted to find out a little more from Ann about this.

How did this booklet start for you and Baa Ram Ewe?
Last February I did a talk at baa ram ewe’s new season launch, after which I stayed to chat with Verity and Jo (owners) about developing my business, especially my branding. They gave me a lot of feedback, particularly emphasising how my branding should truly represent who I am and what I do. An obvious theme we discussed was my identity as a Born and bred Yorkshire lass. The next day Verity rang and suggested that we do a book together with a Yorkshire theme, using Yorkshire wools. I was instantly enthused!

Was the process of writing and designing this book and education for you in Yorkshire yarns?
Actually, I was already familiar with Yorkshire yarns, especially the Wensleydale longwools. I have been on woolly pilgrimages all over Yorkshire in search of true Yorkshire wools. It’s a passion that began for me as a teenager when I learned to spin. It was wonderful though to work with the new yarns that baa ram ewe have created – Titus (a Wensleydale and alpaca blend) and Rare (a Whitefaced Woodland and Hebridean blend).

Do you have a yarn favourite after working with the different yarns?
baa ram ewe’s Titus is a beautiful yarn with a very lovely handle, and I love it! They’ve just brought out naturally darker and lighter versions, and have also had a range of colourways produced in the yarn by The Knitting Goddess. It is very deservedly popular!

It looks like you used 4 different sheep varieties, Wensleydale longwool, Masham, Whitefaced Woodland and Swaledale. How do the different wools compare?
The Masham yarns I used (Rowan British Sheep Breeds chunky and Jarol Aran) have a lot more spring than the Wensleydale yarns. These are the two fibres most suited to jumpers. The Whitefaced Woodland is a little rougher, though still appropriate for most knitwear. The Swaledale is very rough though, with lots of kemp in it (wiry hairs!) and is truly only suited to outerwear. It produces beautiful felt though, and would make fabulous felted bags and accessories. I love the Swaledale Clogs I made with it – so cosy!

Did the qualities of the different wools influence your design decisions?
To some extent, eg it was obvious the Swaledale was inappropriate for a jumper. However, the qualities imposed by the spinning method and finishing made more difference to my design decisions than the inherent qualities of the actual fibre. The bulky character of ‘Rare’ (Whitefaced Woodland wool) begged for large cables, while the Wensleydale Longwool Sheepshop yarn was at that time the only one with a colour range appropriate for stranded designs (this was before baa ram ewe introduced other shades of Titus). And the Jarol ‘spoke to me’, demanding to be made into a something resembling a Celtic nun’s habit! Truly it did: the subdued colour and rustic quality of the yarn were so evocative of this theme.

So if you want to get your hands on this book just leave your Ravelry name below and let me know what your favourite project from the book is!  I’ll draw a winner on Friday.

I am very happy to be part of the blog tour for Kristin Omdahl new collection ‘Complements Collection’.  This booklet is being released by Bijou Basin Ranch and can be bought from them as a paper booklet.  Alternatively if you like your media electronic then an e-version is available at Ravelry or Craftsy.

This booklet has 13 designs in it, interestingly it is a mix of crochet and knitting with 7 knit and 6 crochet projects.  I’m fascinated with the idea of designers switching between knit and crochet having never mastered more than the most basic crochet stitches.

Kristin is a really prolific designer  (I’m not kidding – she has 266 patterns on ravelry!)  I am always curious to hear about other designers process and what inspires them so I sent a few questions on to Kristin:

Looking through your designs I’m in awe of the the volume of design work you do. How does the design process work for you?

It varies from project to project. Sometimes, I’m inspired in nature, and carry a sketchpad to jot down the natural textures and how I think I can create them in a stitch pattern or construction. Sometimes, an idea comes to me in sleep, and I keep another notepad next to my bed for the same reason. Other times, I fall in love with a yarn or color and just grab my hooks or needles and design on the fly. When I work that way, it is EXTREMELY important to write notes as I go otherwise it’s impossible to remember the entire pattern when I’ve finished.
I work full time designing in knitting and crochet. As a single mom, I derive all of my income from this job and you know how labor intensive it can be, so I work long hours to produce around a design per week. Not including marketing, and all the other aspects of having your own business.

Was there anything different about working on a project in conjunction with a yarn company?
It was something I’ve not done before and I have a great relationship with the people of Bijou Basin Ranch. We love collaborating together and I presented this as another way for us to work together. When I work with a magazine or a book publisher, my job ends at turning in the samples, except for approving tech edits and promotion. On this collaboration, I had the liberty to be involved in all of the decision making and learned a lot. One of the things I thought was really interesting about working with a yarn company on a book collaboration is providing kits to support the designs. For example, the Apple Blossom Shawl (the knit shawl on the cover of the book) is available as a gorgeous kit. The kit INCLUDES the book, a super cute canvas project bag, and all the yarn at a 15% reduction.

You have a big mix of crochet and knit designs in your design portfolio. Which did you learn to do first? Do you have any preference when you are designing?

I learned to knit and crochet within a month of each other 10 years ago when I was pregnant with my son and living overseas. I wanted to make booties & blankets for him before he was born. I didn’t have access to many patterns. Necessity is the mother of invention, right? Well, I began designing almost as soon as I began knitting and crocheting. I believe that was a tremendous blessing for my future! Do I have a favorite? No way. I love both very much. There are some things I prefer in one craft over the other, and some weights and fibers I prefer over others in each craft. But I truly love both and am happy I get to work with both almost daily.

When you begin with a design idea do you always know before you start if it’s going to be in knit or crochet or is this something that changes along the way?

I generally know it’s going to be knit or crocheted up front. Usually, it is because the job was specifically designated for a specific craft. This book was the first time I got to choose which ones should be knit or crocheted, and because I am so immersed in both crafts, it was a great experiences to get to explore both, but differently, in the same collection.

Do you have a favorite from the Complements Collection?
I have a few favorites, for different reasons. I love the Gladiolus XOXO Hat as a cure to the Boyfriend Curse Sweater. I love the Aster Tiered Knit Cowl. I think it’s the most cheerful accessory: a bright flower with beautiful tiered petals framing your smiling face as you walk down the street. And, of course I love the shawls. Ok, I could go on, I guess. LOL

Have you worked with Bijou Basin Ranch yarns before? What did you like about their yarn and do you have a favorite?
I have used Bijou Basin Ranch in all of my books, current and in production ones, too. I have used Bijou Bliss more than the rest. It is the cormo wool/yak blend yarn and it gets softer and softer with wear. I love it. Not to say I don’t love their other yarns, too! They have a variety of incredible blends. I used the sock yarn Tibetan Dream for a couple of the shawls and not only is it a great fiber blend, but the yardage was incredible. 2 skeins for a large shawl. You can’t beat that

5/1 The Yarn Thing Podcast with Marly Bird
5/2 Yarn On The House
5/3 Ellen Gormley
5/4 Shannon Okey

5/7 Carol Sulcoski
5/8 Carol Feller
5/9 Amy Shelton
5/10 Drew Emborsky
5/11 Wendy Bernard

5/14 Annie Modesitt
5/15 Robyn Chachula
5/16 Simona Merchant-Dest
5/17 Stacey Trock
5/18 The Sexy Knitter

5/21 Stephannie Tallent
5/22 Faina Goberstein
5/23 Romi
5/24 Laurie Wheeler

5/25 Karrie Steinmetz
5/28 Rebecca Velasquez
5/29 Beth casey
5/30 Susan Post
5/31 Vickie Howell

For any knitters and/or crocheters out there that would like to get your hands on this booklet I’m offering a giveaway for an electronic copy!  Just post a comment and I’ll pick out a winner at random on Friday 11h of May.

In the last couple of days the printed version of Scrumptious Knits has arrived at Fyberspates in the UK!  If you’ve been waiting to get your hands on a paper copy of this book you can buy it now here – remember if you’ve previously bought the PDF version you have a 20% off voucher to use.

I’m waiting (not so patiently!) for my copies to arrive, which should be any day now.  I’m so very excited to see my little box of books.  To make the wait more exciting I thought I’d have a raffle on my blog for a copy of Scrumptious Knits.  You can let me know whether you’d prefer a hard back copy or a PDF version of the book.  All you have to do is tell me which pattern you are going to knit first from the booklet and why in the comments on this blog post.  I’ll have a random drawing for the winner next Thursday the 26th.

For anyone who already has their copy of the book/ebook and is dying to get knitting please come join me for a KAL at my Stolen Stitches group on ravelry.

In more Scrumptious Knit news the book samples have arrived over in the US with the Fyberspates distributor Lantern Moon.  You can read all about it on their blog here. They’ll be traveling with them this weekend to TNNA in Phoenix so even though I won’t be there in person there will be a little part of me there :)  If you are going to the show this weekend do make sure to call to their stand so you can see the samples in person!

In the summer of 2010 I met Ann Kingstone in Scotland.  We spent a wine soaked evening chatting and I thoroughly enjoyed her company!  Little did I know that over the next 18 months I was again to meet her several more times.  Ann is one of the calmest, most relaxed people I know with truly amazing knitting skills!  She is so calm in fact that she happily knits up to the deadline minute without a care in the world.  Meanwhile Woolly Wormhead and I were both having nervous breakdowns on her behalf :)

Ann has a very unique, elegant design style and she has put together a collection in Novel Knits that really showcase her knitting ability and design talent.  There are a wide variety of knitting techniques and projects in this book with 15 patterns in total.  These patterns range from larger sweaters and shawls projects right down to smaller projects like gloves, hats, socks and bags.  A full range of skills in covered in the book, touching on cables, lace and stranded colourwork.

Here are a few of my favourites, the first is an very elegant hooded scarf with twisted stitches curving up and around the hood organically.

Lanthir Lamath

The next is a beret, Lorien.  I’m always fond of the combination of lace and cables!  I just love the headband of this hat.

Lorien

However, Pemberley (below) is probably my favourite.  I saw this in person at TNNA last summer and it is just superb.  A very clever increase/decrease on the same row created a wandering strand of colour up each side of the front.  My love of this jumper is what prompted me to focus my interview with Ann on stranded colourwork.  It’s something I’m personally becoming increasingly interested in and wanted to hear everything she had to say!

Pemberley

Knowing you in person, I know that you have superb knitting skills! When did you learn to knit and do you remember who taught you?

My Mum taught me to knit when I was so young that I don’t even remember learning! She is ‘true left-handed’ knitter, and as I’m left-handed that’s how she taught me. I really got into knitting as a teenager though, making many jumpers and cardigans from patterns and books. I think that’s when I had my biggest leap in skills. Then, as a young woman I bought ‘Knitting in the Nordic Tradition’, and learned stranded colour-work from that, and many other skills too. That book is very fragile now!

Do you have a favourite knitting technique?

I have many favourites! And yes, I think stranded colour-work is probably top in my heart. ;o)

Has the type of project you enjoy designing and knitting changed over time?

When I started designing, I mostly did small projects, especially socks. Now I find I want to design larger garments, jumpers and coats. I think it’s because I’m a learning junkie; having mastered socks I needed to move onto the next challenge. So now I’m working to perfect my understanding of jumper shaping to achieve a good fit with standard measurements. I’ve spent an enormous amount of time researching armscye options, especially because I’m very keen to create cleverly seamless garments. I think I’ve finally really got the compound raglan, and now I’ve moved onto circular yokes and ‘simultaneous set-in sleeves’. I’m currently working on some designs with significantly scooped necks above a circular yoke, and am loving the challenge of working this out!

There is a wonderful mixture of project types in the book ‘Novel Knits’ I think that the designs that really stand out for me are the stranded colour-work projects, especially ‘Pemberley’ and ‘Lissuin’. Do you have any personal favourites?

The most popular one in Ravelry is Lanthir Lamath, and as this is my favourite too that doesn’t surprise me. I designed it to have an elvish feel, and to evoke a waterfall, and am really pleased with how the cascade on the scarf tails works. It has perfectly circular drops of water arranged near the bottom, and streams of water criss-crossing above in the lattice patterns. And I am so proud of the celtic knot on the back of the hood!

What is it about designing in multiple colours that appeals to you?

Well, you know Carol that I’m very much a colour-loving person! It brings a big grin to my face when I remember how amused you and Woolly were by the riot of colour that my end of the hanging rail sported when we shared a room in Columbus last summer!

So one thing I love about colour-work is that it satisfies my need to play at combining colour. And I love figurative motifs – hearts and flowers are my favourite. I love folk art for the same reasons, and learned to do decorative painting some years ago. Like my stranded colour-work, most of my painting features hearts and flowers too!

Do you have any advice for knitters when choosing colour combinations for the knits, or pitfalls to avoid?

It’s best to approach it with a conscious knowledge of colour theory. That’s why I wrote a tutorial about using the colour wheel to plan yarn combinations for stranded colour-work. Folk can find that in the ‘Knitting School’ at my website. Although I wrote it with stranded colour-work in mind, it is just as relevant to choosing colour for contrast trims, etc…

The most common pitfall is misuse of dark and light shades. If a flower motif is half knitted in a light colour against a dark background, and half knitted in a dark shade against a light background, then the flower will be very difficult to see. Contrast needs using consistently throughout the motif. So if I use dark red, dark green, dark purple, light blue, light orange and light yellow, I need to use the dark shades as for the motif stitches, and the light shades for the background stitches throughout, or vice versa.

For knitters who have not done stranded knitting before, what is the most common difficulty when getting started? (And how can you avoid it!!)

The hardest thing for most people is tensioning the yarn so that the work is neither puckered nor holey! Because yarn is being carried across the back of the work between sets of stitches, if it is pulled too tight when it is brought back into use, then it puckers the work. If it is instead allowed to hang in loops, then the stitches at each end of the loop will work themselves loose. What I do (and with practice this becomes second nature and doesn’t slow things down any) is make sure the stitches the yarn is stranded behind sit on the needle at normal tension (not all bunched up, and not stretched out), then at each colour change I take care not to pull on the yarn excessively as I get it around my needle.

Stranded knitting is often knit at a small gauge, why is this an advantage?

For one thing, stranded knitting is formed of two layers of yarn, so makes heavier fabric than single colour projects knitted in the same yarn weight. In finer yarns however, stranded knitting has a pleasing drape. Also, at finer gauges the individual stitches are less noticeable. They blur together so that the colour-work motifs appear to have smoother edges, a more painted than stitched appearance. And finer gauges provide a bigger stitch ‘canvas’ for knitting more recognisable motifs. It is much easier to chart a good-looking deer over a 50-stitch wide area than over a 20-stitch wide area!

Ignus is the cover photo from my newest booklet Scrumptious Knits.  This booklet is still on pre-order but it’s almost ready.  We’re on the last set of edits and it will be released at the end of the week.  So if you want to take advantage of the reduced pre-order price (and the exclusive bonus pattern Ignus Junior) order quickly!

I had promised you some details about the patterns in the booklet, the first I’ll look at is Ignus.  I’m really happy with how this tunic turned out, it incorporates so many things I love, raglan shoulder shaping, ribbing, just a little cables and a long length.  Over the last year I’ve found myself drawn to longer tops, they are so versatile and flattering to wear with leggings or skinny jeans.  If longer tunic styles isn’t your cup of tea it’s an easy job to shorten this, just omit some of the hip increase rounds, start the ribbing sooner and make it just a couple of inches rather then the depth shown.

Here is a detail of the side cable.  It’s worked into the ribbing pattern and ends just before the bottom of the ribbing.  This cable detail is echoed in the cowl neck sleeve and in the hip ribbing.  The ribbing along the side gives a very flattering fit, it adds a little extra stretch without being clingy.  It’s the same with the sleeves, worked in ribbing it does take a little longer but they fit so nicely it’s worth it!

Here in this detail of the front you can see that it has raglan shoulder shaping.  This is started at the neck and is worked from the top down.  There are a few short rows at the back of the neck to raise it up and the neck is curved to create a good shape.  When the neck shaping is finished you join to work in the round and the rest of the top is worked in the round.  The side shaping is worked on either side of the ribbing as you go so it’s easy to move it up or down to suit your own natural waist.

Finally the cowl neck is worked at the very end.  I love the finishing touch this gives to the tunic.  Until this was added when I was knitting it looked almost naked!  It really needed the extra detail to finish it off.  As with the length of the tunic the length of the cowl is also customizable.  I knit a longer version but just try it on as you go until you get the finish you want.  I’ve got a little secret to tell you about my blocking, I had a bit of a disaster….It got slightly shrunk!!  I ended up stretching the body, cowl and sleeve length back to the original size and it just about worked.  The sleeves ended up a touch shorter than originally but only I’d notice!  It worked really nicely for the cowl, stretching it created really nice drape, so due to my accident I discovered how nice a drape you get in the cowl with extreme blocking!

Ok, everyone who has been working on a project from Contemporary Irish Knits over the last few months – now is the time to get your project up on the ravelry forum!

You’ve got one more day to do it, get the project up by tomorrow and then on Tuesday voting will start.

For Adult garments post here.

For Children’s garments post here.

For accessories post here.

There are some really beautiful finished pieces up already but I want to see everything up there!!  Then on Tuesday tell everyone you know to come and vote for you, the most loves will win the prices.  We’ll have yarn from Hedgehog Fibres, The Yarn room, Spud & Chloe as well as some pretty stitch markers and other goodies!

So, we’ve come to the end of the CIK (Contemporary Irish Knits) KAL.  I’ve been watching everyone’s progress over the last few weeks and there are some really gorgeous knits being finished!  Now the time has come to photograph you knits and get it up on my Stolen Stitches group tomorrow to be seen.  Sue is going to put up three different threads; one for adult garments, one for kids garments and one for accessories.  You just need to post your photo, tag it with ‘CIK2011′ and tell everyone about it.  Get your friends voting as the project with the most ‘loves’ will win the prize!

We’ll have a lovely mixture of prizes, which will include yarn, button/stitch marker goodies, patterns and a little surprise.  Remember that you can enter each category for multiple chances to win!

For anyone in the Cork area our wonderful local hand dyer ‘Hedgehog Fibres‘ is having an opening party for her new studio.  I’m really looking forward to this and if anyone local is coming, see you there!  Beata has very kindly donated some hanks of her lovely yarn for one of the KAL prizes so I’ll be picking that up on Saturday as well to send on to the lucky winner!

We took some photos of my original Bakerville hoodie (from Scrumptious Knits) at the same time as the second version.  You might notice some similarities :)  I’m rather fond of this colour grey in cardigans.  In fact if you went through my wardrobe you’d find probably 75% grey for knitwear!  I love grey paired with brighter colours, a bright orange t-shirt with a grey cardigan over it is just a lovely combination.  My first test version of this hoodie was done using some Knit Picks simply cotton sport that I had in my stash.  When I knit a first version I experiment a little with the construction until I get a finished piece that looks good and is as easy to knit as it can be.  After that I got some sportsweight/4-ply Scrumptious Yarn in slate and Dixie knit the sample for the second version of the hoodie.

This hoodie uses one of my favorite construction methods, top down with set in sleeves.  For this you begin with a provisional cast on across the shoulders, work short rows to slope the shoulders and work the back to the armpits (shaping them as you go).  Then the provisional cast-on is undone and the front section is worked just like the back but with the central neck stitches held for later.  At this point the front and back can be joined and worked together in the round.  You can see here how the ribbing is worked down the side of the body with shaping worked at each side of it and a pocket added for good measure.  Note as well that this is the Fyberspates version below, you can see the beautiful shimmer of the silk in the sun.

When the body is finished we begin work on the generously size hood.  This is shaped into a hood by working short row decreases across the top which form lovely seam lines as they are worked.

At the very end you work the front diagonal ribbed panels.  These are worked all the way around until the hood is finished, then the two front panels are worked for a little longer to create a crossover front placket.

I’ve just come back from the most wonderful weekend in Glasgow.  I was teaching at the Glasgow School of Yarn, an event organised by The Yarn Cake.  The photo above is the view from my bedroom at the Heritage Hotel, this hotel was the perfect mixture between hotel and b&b.  A little bigger than the standard b&b but with more character than your typical hotel.

Waiting for me in the hotel room was a wonderful goodie bag from The Yarn Cake, sweets (kindly eaten by my boys), whiskey (much loved by DH!) and a project bag and coffee cup that got put to immediate use by me.  The t-shirt will take a little longer to get some use, what with the drop in temperature here (and me being always cold!).

Once I had settled into the hotel room I walked to The Yarn Cake, and had some coffee and cake.  It seemed somehow fitting given the name!  The cosy front section of the shop had tables, benches and chairs and you got to look at the colourful wall of drops yarn.  I suspect that there is much impulse buying after someone has fallen for the colours!

My first day of teaching was in the shop itself but on Saturday I got to do a book signing and class in the Mackintosh church.  In their gift shop they had a paper kit to make the couple you see above.  My oldest ds is very obsessed currently with origami and paper folding so I tried to get one for him but they were unfortunately all out :(

The book signing took place on the alter of the church, any Irish Catholics out there will probably understand what a strange sensation it was to be sitting up on an alter for a few hours talking knitting!!  The knitters didn’t seem to mind though and you can see Killybegs being tried on and admired below.

At the end of the day Antje hosted an after party in her flat for tutors and volunteers and she had a great selection of local beers to choose from….

So after a lovely few days with Scottish knitters it back to reality for me, paying taxes and searching for a new car.

Halloween Pattern Discount!

To help you all get your Christmas knitting done early this year I’ve just put up a Halloween discount.  From now until the end of October use the code ‘SPOOKY2011′ when you order and all individual patterns will get a 20% discount.  No limit to the number of times you use it.  My e-booklets will not be included in this discount.

Contemporary Irish Knits – get your signed copy.

I’ve just put an option on the page for Contemporary Irish Knits to buy the book directly from me.  I’ll sign your copy with your name (or someone elses if you note it in the comments).  Just pick the correct destination and the shipping is included in the cost.

Take a look at our KAL that’s currently running until the 1st of December.  There will be some great prizes so just join right in!

The second stop on the CIK (Contemporary Irish Knits) blog tour has gone up at Hoxton Handmade here.  If you ever need knitting related audio to listen to while you work you should be sure to check her podcast out, lots of good info and she has such a pleasant voice to listen to!

A few more reviews have gone up around the web, a lovely one from Everything Old here.  Hedgehog Fibres are doing a giveway for a signed copy of the book here and you get to try your hand at yarn naming!

Sinead has been making great progress on her Rossbeg cardigan for her daughter, and she’s blogged about it here.

Here’s her progress, it fits her perfectly!:

We had a lovely class at Crafty Alley yesterday.  It was an all day class so it had a very relaxed feel to it, we could take our time and still get lots of knitting done.  Thanks to all who came along!