I wanted to have a range of project in this book. Many current knitting books focus on one area only; women, men, kids or accessories.  I wanted to buck the trend and cover the lot!

Can I introduce you to my little boy projects; Ballinagree and Caherciveen. (modeled by my two youngest sons).

Ballinagree

From Contemporary Irish Knits

This raglan for little boys is knit from Cushendale DK in the round from the bottom up.  It is knit at a tighter gauge than normal for this yarn which is a great way to help make cables ‘pop’.  You also get an extra warm garment!

The body and sleeves are worked in the round from the bottom up and joined at the yoke.  You can see from this photo how the raglan shoulder shaping is worked using decresess all the way to the neckline.  The collar is split at the front and worked fairly short to give a standing collar.  As this is at the very end of the garment it would be easy to make modifications here, if you split the front further down you can have a larger opening, and possibly include buttons on the placket (which is knit afterwards).  Another possible variation would be to knit the collar for twice as long so that it fold right over on itself.  Just remember to have extra yarn!

The criss cross cables on the front and back of this jumper/sweater have a bold, medieval quality about them; just right for little boys!  The chest sizes for this piece range from 22.25 -31.5″/56.5 – 80 cm” which will fit approximate 2-10 years.  To figure out the correct size for kids, measure their chest size and then add the number of inches you want for ease.  If you’re unsure how much ease you need take a look at some of the clothes they wear (ideally in a similar weight material) that you like the fit of and measure.  You probably want around 2-4″/5-10 cm but that depends entirely on personal taste (yours and the little person!)

Caherciveen

From Contemporary Irish Knits

The second little boy pattern in the book is Caherciveen.  Knit in the round from the bottom up using aran weight Kerry Woollen Mills yarn you’ll find that this top (depending on where you’re from, vest in the US, sleeveless jumper in Ireland/UK!) just flies off the needles.  The cables used are a variation on the staghorn cable.  Generally cables are worked using a reverse st st background, however for this cable I’ve left the background stitch st st which means the cables are not as prominent and it creates a much more subtle effect.  As with Ballinagree above the neck opening can be moved to suit your own personal taste.  I have kept the opening low but you can move it to a higher position if you wanted to without much difficulty.

This garment is knit with more ease than Ballinagree above, the finished chest size is 24.25 – 31.75”/61.5 – 80.5 cm.  I liked how this garment looked with a little more room but you should make your own personal choices about amount of ease.  That is why I’ve given as much sizing information as possible in the patterns, so you can make informed choices.  For each pattern actual finished measurements are given (including a schematic), the suggested chest size this will fit and the approximate age this corresponds to.  I’ve also given the ease shown on the modeled garment so you can decide if you want more or less ease in the garment you’re knitting.

When the body is complete you separate the front and back at the armhole and work them separately.  They are then joined at the shoulder using a three needle bind off (I just love how easy and smooth this join is!)  The hood is continued up from there (with the separated staghorn cable at each side) and joined at the top.  When you are finished the front edging (with the buttonhole) and armhole edging are all finished with my favorite applied I-cord.  It can’t be beat for a good finish.

Classes

I’ve got a few upcoming classes in the next few weeks.  You can see the full details of them all here.

Saturday 17th of September I’ll be at Crafty Alley in Killarney.  Class can be booked here.  I’ll be bringing my complete book trunk show so if you want to see the garments in person come along for a look after the class (after 4).  Cathy will also have the book in stock so you can pick up a signed copy on the day!

Sunday October 2nd I’ll be teaching at The Yarn Room in Wicklow.  Class can be booked here. Trunk show will be available to view in the shop on the day.

October 21st-22nd I’ll be at The Glasgow School of Yarn.  Classes can be booked here.  This should be an exciting event, I’ll also have my trunk show with me for this so come along for a look.

Competition!

On my group at ravelry I’ve been running a raffle for a copy of my signed book (or some Donegal Yarn!).

From the 22nd of August until mid-day (Ireland) on the 14th of September anyone who buys one of my self-published patterns will be entered into a raffle.  I’ll have two prizes (your choice), of either a signed copy of my book or Donegal yarn.  The Donegal yarn I’ve got here is a sweater quantity of a dark grey/black (no. 4582) Aran Tweed or enough for Rossbeg girl’s cardigan in the orange (5530) Soft Donegal.

We made it back home last night after the Contemporary Irish Knits launch party tired but very happy!  It is always such a pleasure to get to visit This Is Knit and the Powerscourt centre, such an elegant building with a lovely atmosphere.  This time my husband, Joe, got to come along as well so I actually have some photographs of the event to share with you!

I want to give a big thank you to all the mills and hand dyers who came along so that knitters got a chance to see the yarn ranges and talk with them.  Donegal Yarns, Cushendale Woollen Mills, Kerry Woollen Mills, Hedgehog Fibres and Dublin Dye Company were all there, and we even have the photo to prove it!

From left to right in the photo there is; Chris Weiniger (Donegal Yarns), Tristan Donaghy (Studio Donegal), Miriam Cushen (Cushendale Woollen Mills), Sean Cannon (Kerry Woollen Mills), Carol Feller, Beata Jezekova (Hedgehog Fibres), Elana Kehoe & Yvonne McSwiney (Dublin Dye Company) .

I got started before the launch signing a big stack of books for knitters who had pre-ordered.

Thanks to all you great knitters out there This Is knit sold out of the book.  Fortunately I had an extra box of books along with me so no one was left short!

I am so looking forward to seeing all of the finished knits as they appear, its so much fun to see all the variations created by different knitters to make the patterns their own.  I love talking with knitters about how the garments are constructed and possible ways of modifying to suit their own body type.

Overlapping with the book launch was the Yarn Tasting event that there were many, many knitters at (as you can see!)

At the event I got to meet the super talented (and so very nice) Kate Davies.  She also had a display of her garments and patterns up and it was lovely to get to see (and fondle) them all in person. Her historical perspective on knitting was really interesting to hear, I’m going to be keeping an eye out for her upcoming articles to read a bit more.

During the yarn tasting both Kate and me (much to our surprise) got to give a speech so attendees got to see a mini-fashion parade of a few garments from the book in action.  Thank you very much to all of the eager models (Lisa, Elana, Eimear and Aoibhe) who did a great job.

And of course there was cake (again from the amazing ‘Pepper Pot’ in the centre)…..

It was so very pretty it was a shame to cut it but it just had to be done!

Siobhan from This Is Knit was also busy snapping the event so keep an eye out on This Is Knit’s blog for some additional lovely photos of the event.  So even if you couldn’t be there you can still get some of the virtual pleasure from it!

Killybegs

Contemporary Irish Knits

This cardigan ‘Killybegs’ was the first design that was knitted for the book.  It was in fact finished when the book was barely an idea, rather than a reality!  The concept for this cardigan centered around creating a seemingly complex garment from the humble honeycomb stitch. The simple stitch pattern forms all the shaping for this cardigan.  Their is no waist shaping added, you can see how the honeycomb pattern (which has a ‘drawing in’ effect, as with all cables) is increased at the waist to form smooth organic waist shaping naturally.  It has the added bonus of creating a really interesting pattern using just the increases and decreases of the honeycomb repetition.

As you move up the body (did I forget to mention that it’s seamless worked from the bottom up!) you join the sleeves and the body together at the yoke.  I spent a really, really long time perfecting the decreases at the yoke.  All of the yoke decreases are worked into the honeycomb pattern to create a seamless honeycomb band around the yoke.  The back of the neck is raised a little at the very end using short rows and a neat, tidy I-cord finishes the neckline.

Speaking of I-cords, the bottom of the body is started using an I-cord cast-on.  This can be tricky to get right so I’d suggest experimenting with a swatch before you begin the garment to get it right.  If you just can’t get the first row to tighten up (this cast-on can create a loose first row) you have a couple of alternatives available.  The easiest to do is to work a provisional cast-on at the hem and then when you are working I-cord edging around the front you can work the I-cord edging along the bottom at the same time.

You can see here at the front I have opted for hook and eye closures.  This give a lovely smooth, clean finish.  If this isn’t your style just work I-cord buttonholes as you work the front edging instead.

The sleeves cuff also uses an I-cord cast-on and the honeycomb stitch to fit the cuff snugly at the wrist.

Once I had finished the Killybegs cardigan I started work on a complementary beret ‘Bundoran’.  This beret is also based on the honeycomb stitch with the crown decreases being worked into the honeycomb pattern.  After a few trial runs I opted to work the first few honeycomb repeats with spaces between, this helps to avoid the beret becoming too cable heavy.  There are two style options given in the book; a fitted style and a more slouchy style (shown here).

Both of these patterns are worked in Donegal Yarns ‘Aran Tweed’.  The texture and colors of this yarn are just a delight to work with and really complement the patterns.

I hope you haven’t all started getting sick of hearing about my book yet! It’s more exciting than I thought it would be launching my first book, even watching it yo-yo up and down on Amazon is kind of fun (in a masochistic sort of way!).  In a few weeks time I’ll also be launching a blog tour for the book so you’ll start to see some more details about all the patterns and the book.

This Is Knit have kindly offered to host the book launch party on the 8th of September.  So if you’re anywhere near Dublin come along for an afternoon of fun (along with lots of wool and perhaps some cake)!  You can book your spot at the launch here. Their shop is located in the center of Dublin in the Powerscourt Shopping Center.  The launch will be held right up at the very top in the Loft area.  It will start at 4.30 and will run until 5.30, after this their Yarn Tasting evening begins and if you’ve also booked for this we’ll be there for the first hour or so for garment trying on and book signing.  We’re hoping to have a few of the mills there as well to give you some virtual tours of the mills and yarn.  If you have already bought the book bring it along to get it signed, if not you can pre-order when you book your spot at the launch!

For anyone not withing easy distance of Dublin, I’ll be bringing my book trunk show and book signing hand around the country.  17th of September I’ll be running a class at Crafty Alley in Killarney that can be booked here and I’ll be in Glasgow with the Yarn Cake on the 21/22nd of October, classes can be booked here.

In west Cork this weekend my friend Sue decided to hold her own little mini fibre event.  Her back garden was a sea of tents, spinning wheels and lots of smiling faces!

After a misty morning the clouds cleared and we miraculously had sunshine for most of the day!  It felt like such indulgence to sit knitting for the whole day, with mountains of food provided by everyone who came.

Except for the photo above and a very, very fuzzy photo of the bonfire at the end I didn’t take any photos in between.  Evin however took some great photos of the day, most importantly of Sue’s pretty new kitten Minou.  I also pulled out a few boxes of samples for people to try on and there will be a few of those up on Evin’s Flickr stream later.

Sue’s lovely DH (who was the model for Straboy in the book…) was worked hard that evening, barbecuing for us, and later building the most amazing bonfire.  It’s a pretty dreadful photo from my i phone at night but it gives you a hint of what it was like!

Many, many thanks to Sue and hubbie for the great (but exhausting!) weekend.

In the next day or two I’m going to post a little  more on the Contemporary Irish Knits Book.  I’ve put some details with a montage together and I’ve eventually managed to get all the patterns up on ravelry, that took quite a while!  I’ll have lots of fun stuff coming up to celebrate the book launch in the next few weeks, a blog tour kicking off on the 15th of September, some give away on the blog and a book launch party in Dublin.  The launch will be at This Is Knit on the 8th of September but we need to finalise the last few details.  If you want to make sure you book a place just get in contact with This Is Knit.

I’ve just added the next pattern from to book to Ravelry – Killybegs.

(c) Joseph Feller

This design is very close to my heart, it was the very first one I completed for the book!  It took me ages (and much ripping) to get the top of the yoke just perfect.  Just the right amount of curve across the back from short rows without it becoming too high.

The cardigan is worked around a traditional honeycomb stitch cable pattern.  This is usually used as an accent panel but I’ve played with the structure so that all of the decreases are worked into the pattern around the yoke.  Its worked seamlessly from the bottom up.  The body and sleeves are both knit first of all, and then are joined at the yoke and worked in one piece.  The natural ‘drawing in’ quality of cables is used at the waist so that the increased cabling creates the waist shaping rather than decreases.

This pattern is worked up in Donegal Yarns ‘Aran Tweed’ (also sold as Studio Donegal and occasionally still under the Kilcarra label).  It’s a great color green that has fleck of orange and purple running through it.  As soon as I’m finished using the samples for my trunk show this cardigan is going straight in my wardrobe!

Materials
Donegal Yarns “Aran Tweed” (100% wool; 88 yd./80m per 50g skein); Color: Green (4824); 10 (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16) skeins
NOTE: This yarn is also sold under the “Kilcarra” and “Studio Donegal” labels.
US 8 (5mm) circular needle, 32” (80cm) length (or longer for larger sizes), or size needed to obtain gauge
US 7 (4.5mm) circular needle, 32” (80cm) length (or longer for larger sizes)
US 8 (5mm) double-pointed needles
Cable needle
Removable stitch markers
Waste yarn
Tapestry needle
9-13 hook and eye closures

I’m feeling pretty excited about this book at the moment, it feels like it is starting to gather momentum now that the release is so close.

Last week Wiley posted an interview with me on their blog that you can find here.

And at the start of this week the new Fall issue of Twist Collective came out .  There are some wonderful new designs in this issue and I got to write my first article for them on the Irish Mills here.  I really enjoyed writing this, there are some wonderful Irish yarn out there to sample!

Save the date!

We still need to work out the details but This Is Knit in Dublin have very kindly offered to host the Contemporary Irish Knits launch party.  We have the date, 8th of September, and it will be in the afternoon upstairs in the loft.  The exact time needs to be confirmed but I can’t wait to see you all there.  I’ll have all the samples from the book and This Is Knit will have the book there if you want it signed (or you can bring your own copy if you already have it!).

From events in the last month or two I’ve handed out an extract from the book that includes the pattern Ardara.  So for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet here is a photo -

For a few more peeks at the cardigan you can go take a look at its entry on Ravelry here and for a peek inside the book take a look on Amazon here for the US and here for the UK (it hit number 39 last night in the UK for knitting books!  Not too bad for a pre-release!!).

Classes

I’m not sure how it ended up happening but I’m teaching a whole lot more these days.  I’ve got a class coming up in September at Crafty Alley in Killarney (with a trunk show after!) and I’ll be at The Glasgow School of Yarn (The Yarn Cake) in October.  Take a look at my classes page for full details of all the classes.

New Pattern

I had a pattern published last week in the Fall issue of Interweave Knits, Cardigan Bay Jacket.  This was a crazy fast knit to do, it’s top down in a chunky yarn which would be seriously cosy for winter!

I’m still pretty groggy from jetlag post-TNNA but I thought it was better to actually write down some of my experiences now before the memories fade.  There is something very surreal about spending a weekend with knitters/designers that you only know virtually, a bit like having a fairy tale book just jump to life!

I flew over from Dublin on Thursday thinking I’d have a nice relaxing trip.  It didn’t quite turn out that way, courtesy of multiple severe thunder storms many flights were cancelled or delayed.  I arrived into Newark, went to look at the departure screens and found my flight cancelled.  In a bit of a panic about losing a day (as well as having to figure out where to stay at Newark) I managed to get slotted into a later flight that evening.  However the storms kept up so flight were being cancelled all over the place – we managed to get on the plane at 8.15…only to be kicked off again!  When we got on for real at 9.30 I was nearly jumping with joy, and the excitement from Woolly Wormhead and Ann Knigstone when I reached to room made the journey worthwhile!

Friday night I went to the designer’s dinner that was organized by the wonderful Marly Bird.  We got the most insanely amazing goody bag…I foolishly didn’t take a photo of the whole bag but below is a little sample of the highlights, which included a hot pink Namaste bag (really just wonderful!), Bijou Basin Ranch ‘Bijou Spun’, Blossom Street yarn, Malabrigo sock yarn, Entree to Entrelac by Gwen Bortner , Knit Kit, boyd yarn snips and rosewood crochet hook, some red heart yarns and tape, JHB buttons, Heel foot soak, Eucalan, and a few more bit that the boys have managed to run away with before I photographed!  A big thank you to all the sponsors.

After the dinner we headed over to the Hyatt bar where there was quite possibly the world’s biggest knitting circle.  I spent my time sitting there seeing who looked most like their avatar, fun guessing game!  I got to talk for a while with Ann Hanson (who I’ll be teaching in London at Knit Nation with) and the lovely Rosemary Hill.  It’s a very unique experience actually getting to talk shop with so many designers all on one night.  Alisha Goes Around was busy putting the finishing touches to her polar bear that I got to see the next day on her stand..it was pretty amazing, she also had a great knitted peacock that I don’t have a photo of :(.  I got some wonderful yarn samples from her that I can’t wait to get knitting with.

First day of the show I was the first up on the Ravelry stand with my trunk show, I’m so glad I brought my ipad with me – I was able to set a full slide show of all my self-published patterns up so that even though I only had a selection of garments with me everything was viewable.  Ravelry is so loved by everyone, I just couldn’t get over the amount of people who just wanted to come up and tell them how much they loved them all.  Mary-Heather and Sarah (with her lovely pregnant bump!) were quite possibly even nicer than I expected…if that is possible!  Just truly wonderful people.  Here is a photo that Mary-Heather took in the stand when I was there.

I spent the rest of Saturday walking around stands getting to know people and fondling yummy yarn.

A few of the other designers who had stands that I got to chat with were Ilga Leja, Bonne from Chic Knits (we also met over breakfast), Shannon Okey from Cooperative Press and Michelle from Fickle knitter and Heather (Army of Knitters) over lunch.  As I was talking about my upcoming book and blog tour I got tons of offers from other designers to host a leg of the tour.  We’re going to end up with a really exciting tour!

Saturday night I went with some fellow Wiley authors (Kristi Porter (Knitting in the Sun), Alison Stuart-Guinee (the very cute Fairy Tale Knits), Melissa Morgan-Oakes (Teach yourself visually Circular Knitting)) for dinner with Wiley sales rep Jack.  As always a good opportunity for a photo!  As my book isn’t quite there yet I’ve just got a extract to hold!

Second night at the Hyatt bar and I spotted Sarah passing by wearing a version of Trousseau, which she kindly stopped to model for me!  Sorry about the poor photo quality, the ipad just doesn’t do indoor lighting well.  You can see Sarah’s much prettier photos on ravelry here.

Next day I had my book signing at the R&M (a book distributor) stand.  It was really a signing of bookmarks with a pattern extract from the book but everyone went away looking happily awaiting the full version.  The camera seemed to want to focus in front of the table so we’re a little out of focus but it’s all I’ve got!

On my final night I got to talk for a while with Anne Kuo Lukito aka Crafty Diversions and Stephanie Japel.  You two, I really enjoyed my evening and Anne I hope we didn’t have too much kid talk (I think most of it was while you were at the bar though!)

Sunday meet up with Emily who has test knit many projects for me.  She drove from quite a distance to come meet up, so thanks Emily!  As she had a car she went and drove us a little downtown to get some tasty food.  Was nice to see a little of Columbus beyond the airport and conference center!

I went back home on Monday, really sad that I hadn’t booked an extra day.  Next year (it’s kind of addictive) I hope I can add one more day to the trip, it felt early going home so soon on Monday.

My flights back home were as smooth as could be, I even managed to get to Dublin a half hour early.  My wonderful DH decided to drive up and collect me rather than me taking the bus home.  He’s just one big sweetie!

It has taken me the full week to really feel like I’m totally back to work after the holiday.  Part of that is due to to feeling under the weather after coming back; a combination of a blocked ear and severe jet lag was making me feel like I was on another universe!  I got my ear sorted out at the doctor yesterday and had a week of good sleeps and I’m back on this planet at last again.

I must be mad to have planned another trip over in just a month!  In the middle of June I’ll be making my first trip to TNNA at Columbus, Ohio.  I’m really looking forward to this trip and meeting up with people I’ve only known online up to this point.  I’m not really entirely sure how to organize myself for the show so if you’ve been to this show before please let me know!  Plus if you’re going and want to meet up get in contact, I want to make the most of my 5 day transatlantic trip.

As I don’t feel right ending a post without any photos, I’m going to include one of me with the boys that was taken on Sunday.  (Which, in the US at least, inadvertently ended up being a mother’s day photo!)  This was one from a photo shoot that we did for my author photo on the book, it somehow seemed fitting that they should all be there as well.  After all they do wind the yarn, put up with my constant knitting and model for me!

I’m reaching the end of a family holiday in Florida – it’s been a really, really long time since I’ve spent this much time in the sun and while it was just wonderful I also remember why I don’t live here anymore! I’m trying to remember what ordinary life is like and I’m really going to miss swimming every day when I get back home.  I also seem to have mountain loads of work piling up for me so suffering from jet lag won’t be an option.

I just got an email yesterday to let me know that the tickets for Knit Nation in London will be on sale May 1st at 8pm. If there are any class you really, really want to take make sure you get booking early to make sure you get your first choices!

On other teaching news…I’m going to be doing a few more classes in Crafty Alley in Killarney.  One will be on Finishing Techniques on the 28th of May and the next one will be Top Down Knitting in September.  I’ll post more details on these classes when I get back home, as well as a little peek at my newest pattern in Kristi Porter’s More Knitting In The Sun.