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A few months ago I sat looking at a lonely skein of Manos del Uruguay ‘Silk Blend’ on my shelf.  I loved the yarn and the color was one of my favorites but  for some reason it had been sitting there for quite a while.

I took it down and started swatching, I wanted to knit it at a nice tight gauge and experiment with cables.  I started out with a very elaborate cable sketch that morphed into a tulip at the top but it looked really silly when I went to knit it up!  Instead the combination of the single sideways cable that crossed over ribbing really captivated me.  I began working with just that and the zig zag cables began growing out from there. And so the Ambroso mittens were born, they’re available right now on the current Knitty Deep Fall 2o11 issue.

Working these mittens uses several different cable types, to make them very visually easy to pick out I would suggest color coding them so you can see at a glance where you are at, you can just use highlighter pens or markers of different colors for different cables:

I also got a  lovely surprise in this issue of Knitty, Contemporary Irish Knits made it to the top of ‘Cool Stuff’! I had no idea that Amy had such a soft spot for Ireland (she’s actually going to be teaching a class at This Is Knit in Dublin very shortly!)

My blog tour is now well underway, and you can find the latest review and interview with Shannon Okey (aka knitgrrl).  She had some fun interview questions so it should make for a good read!

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.

Dalkey Set

From Contemporary Irish Knits

Anyone who has been looking at my designing over the last year or two know that I love lace and cables combined.  They complement each other so well, lace by itself can be very insubstantial and cables add bulk to knitted items.  Combine the two together and you’ve got a match made in heaven!

This cowl and fingerless mittens set is a great way of using your extra special skein of sock yarn.  One skein of Dublin Dye Studio Merino Sock was enough for a large size cowl and medium size mittens with just a little extra left.

You can see the stitch pattern in this detail shot of the cowl more easily, cables twist back and forth with lace in between.  The pattern is easy to remember after the first repeat, and the cowl is knit in the round so no wrong side rows!

This version of the cowl is the larger slouchy size.  It will fit loosely around the neck, this is ideal to pull it easily over your hair and it can be neatly folded at the neck and pinned with a brooch as seen in the top photo.

The coordinating fingerless mittens are as light as air.  Everyone should own a set of fingerless mittens in fingering weight yarn!  One repeat of the lace and cable pattern is centered on the top of the mitt for a subtle effect.

Rathcooney Fingerless Mittens and Hat

From Contemporary Irish Knits

I’ve always loved this stitch pattern, the cocoon stitch.  It is so delicate and subtle, increases and decreases move the single rows of knit stitches in and out.  The idea for this set came from the stitch pattern, I was trying it out and began experimenting with how it worked flowing from the stitch into ribbing.  I loved how it worked, the cocoon stitch is perfect for drawing in the wrist and head band for both the hat and mitts and then the ribbing forms the body of both.  As an added bonus this ribbing looks extra good when decreases are worked between it to form the crown of the hat!

The wonderful yarn for this set was donated by Beata from Hedgehog Fibres.  I knit the set using 4mm (US6) size needles which gives a fairly tight gauge for this yarn.  This helps for two reasons, firstly it gives an extra warm hat and mitt set and also the tighter gauge really allows the stitch pattern to pop out and create a very sculptural effect.

All of the edgings on the set are worked as I-cord.  I love the clean, finished look this gives to a knit, simple to work but very slick!

The mitt set is knit in size 7.75″/19.5cm shown with some positive ease and the hat is shown in 19.25″/49cm with around 2″/5cm of negative ease.  Remember that hats work best with a little negative ease so that they stay on snugly!

The full set was knit using Hedgehog Fibres Silk Merino singles (50% silk, 50% merino wool; 164 yd./150m per 100g skein) in color Winter Thaw.  Beata has told me that this yarn now has extra yardage so 2 skeins should knit that full set for all sizes!

The gauge for the ribbing is  25 sts x 30 rows = 4″ (10cm) and for the cocoon stitch pattern it is 28 sts x 32 rows = 4″ (10cm).

The final pattern from Stolen Stitches Autumn Collection 2011 is up – Tembo.

I got this yarn (Osprey) a few months ago for the first time. I had a big pile of deadline projects and it just taunted me from the corner of the office I wanted to knit with it so much!
Eventually I was able to give in and got to knit this cardigan. I love wearing it. It is soft, comfortable and very flattering to wear.
I knit it from the bottom up, separating for the pockets. The shoulders are joined together using a three needle bind off and then stitches are picked up for the sleeves and the set in sleeve cap is knit using short rows from the top down.
The collar looked very strange while it was being knit as each side is knit in one piece and the two sides are grafted together at the back of the neck. That is where the name came from – Tembo means ‘Elephant’ in Swahili, as the collar looked like an Elephant’s ear when it is being knit!

Now back to work…

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

All my boys are off on their summer holidays this week, even though the house is full (and work is much, much harder!) it’s really nice not to be tied to a schedule.  This year feels quite different, my oldest son is now in secondary school so he finished early as well as coming and going to friend’s houses and getting ready to head off on a 3 week camp.  Not to mention the fact that he is now very, very nearly my height!  The transition from child to teenage happens really, really fast.  So far I’m loving it…ask me again in a year or two when it really hits…

This week on my ravelry board a few knitters are putting an Akoya KAL together.  If you are think about knitting this and would like company go on over and join them.  I’ll keep following the thread to make sure that any questions you have are answered.

Last Thursday I was at the This Is Knit 5 year anniversary party in Dublin.  It was so much fun, they had a great crowd of knitters (and several fellow designers, Debbie Bliss, Kieran Foley and Aoibhe Ni) and everyone was so excited to be there.  There was so much trying on of garments over the afternoon that by the time it was all over my table of samples looked like a pile from a rummage/jumble sale.  I forgot to take any photos but keep an eye on the This is Knit blog for some photos of the event coming soon.  I got to give everyone a sneak peak of my Contemporary Irish Knits – only a few weeks to go!!  This party was so much fun I’m really looking forward to putting a big book launch party together, hopefully in September.

(Photo courtesy of Sweensie).

(Photo courtesy of Diane.)

While recovering from the trip to Dublin my head is already heading to London for Knit Nation next week.  Just 10 more days and it’ll be here!  I’m printing my maps and class notes and soon I’ll be all ready.  I’ll even sneak a few of my book samples into the suitcase so you can have a peek.  The publisher has sent me a little stack of a sample pattern from the book so if you want one over the weekend and see me just ask.

I’ve had a few patterns that seem to have come to completion (or near completion) at the same time. I was trying to decide the best way to release them and I ended up putting them together as a little collection of 3 – Stolen Stitches Autumn Collection 2011. All 3 have a very autumnal feel, greys, browns and cozy!

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I’ve released the first of the set already (Maenad) and I plan on releasing a cardigan from the collection in July and August.  If you want to get a reduced rate for all 3 pattern you can pre-order the complete set before the end of July  ($12.95), after that date the full price will be $15.   When you buy the collection new pattern pdfs will automatically be uploaded to your ravelry account as soon as they have been released and you’ll get an email to let you know….very convenient!

By the way if you want to get a little sneak peek of the other cardis take a look at flickr here!

Due to the delightful changing weather here in Ireland our entire household appears to have come down with a cold. I imagine the 20 degree (C) temp difference between Ohio and Ireland may have played a part for me also though!
I did however have a very pleasant surprise this weekend – the new Interweave Weekend issue was out. As well has the excitement of having a pattern in the issue I discovered that my Spoked Cardigan made it to the front cover!

This cardigan brings back lots of memories of last December when I sent it in.  I was working on it before Christmas when DH was away, we had freezing weather and no water due to frozen pipes.  I had the knitting finished before Christmas but had to wait until the post offices opened again to sent it off to Interweave!

As you can probably see from the color striping this cardigan is knit from side to side.  It starts at the front edge, works around one side (with stitches cast on for the sleeve) all the way around to the other front.  The yoke of the cardigan uses a varying garter stitch pattern to create a  yoke that moves in and out as you work it.  This yoke is charted for different sizes so it’s easy to combine the garter stitch pattern with the short row shaping.  The bottom of the sleeve is grafted for a seamless finish and the only seam in the whole garment is across the underarm.

I’m getting really excited now about This Is Knit’s 5 year anniversary party next week, it’s so close.  I’ll be among great company – there will be Debbie Bliss, Kieran Foley (designs amazing lace and colourwork) and Aoibhe Ni (very talented crochet designer).

I’m not certain if there are any tickets left for the event but check with TIK if you want to go, the full €5 cover charge will be donated to the Irish Cancer Society.  Plus you’ll have the added bonus of seeing me embarrass myself by attempting a speech.  I’ll be bringing a good selection of my self-published pattern samples for anyone who wants to try then on as well as a few sneak peeks from my new book ‘Contemporary Irish Knits‘ due out in August.