I've got just a little something for you today. For the past couple of years I've made a one-page calendar for my sweet darling Mother to put on her desk. This year, I made one with a repeating pattern in the background that I created from a photograph of the Capital Scarflette. Since this makes it (even vaguely) knitting related, I thought I'd make it available for free download here.

Click HERE to download the pdf for free.

I hope 2011 is a great year for everyone. Enjoy!

Last week at work we had a baby shower for one of my favorite co-workers. I wanted to make something special for her because she is a fellow knitter and also a very nice person. Baby Audrey Hat is what I came up with. I had some leftover yarn that would be just perfect for a sweet little baby hat. I whipped up this cute little hat in just a few hours and thought I would share the pattern here on my site for free.

I used Karabella Aurora 8 yarn for this hat. It's so soft and perfect for a baby, or if you're a baby about itchy wool. I got it at School Products Yarn in Midtown. They have over a hundred colors of this particular yarn, which is very exciting for someone such as myself.

How cool are these bracelets?!! They're knitting needles that have been bent into a circular shape.

[caption id="attachment348" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Screenshot taken from "Sew New Things" Etsy.com page"]<a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/sewnewthings?ref=toptrail">[/caption]

I was given a set of these "upcycled knitting needles" for Christmas from my Brother and his lovely wife. Thanks guys, I love them! It was such a thoughtful gift.

Lynda Slade who makes these super cool bracelets lives in Sydney, Australia. You can get your own set on her etsy page, Sewnewthings.

Thumbs up for Jewelry!

I was delighted to find out that my design, Gowanus, was mentioned in the latest podcast of Stash and Burn (episode 99). I want to make sure everyone checks it out because it's a really fun knitting podcast.

They talk about the Gowanus scarf being a one skein project, which is something that I also love about the design. I've got a corner of my stash that's just odd balls of whatever is left over and I'm always trying to think of what to do with them. I should warn, that I used all but about 5g of the 50g skien for the sample. It was seriously cutting it close. If you select a heavier fingering weight yarn, you may come up a tad short.

[caption id="attachment_338" align="alignright" width="319" caption="Original Sketch of the Miss Myrtle fingerless gloves"][/caption]

My Miss Myrtle fingerless gloves, another one-skein project, were originally supposed to coordinate with the Gowanus scarf. I still think they do, but they kind of became their own animal. You can see some similarities with the picot edging and eyelet motif. Also they use the same kind of yarn. Miss Myrtle became much more frilly though in the end.

[caption id="attachment_308" align="alignleft" width="250" caption="At the Williamsburg waterfront park in Brooklyn"][/caption]

I recently released my Miss Myrtle Fingerless Gloves pattern here on my own website, on Ravelry, and on Knitpicks. I've had a huge response, so thanks to everyone for your wonderful comments and messages. I've had more people buy the pattern in the first month than I ever expected. I'm hoping to start seeing some pictures of FO's on Ravelry soon too!

The gloves were a project for me to work on while traveling around in Ireland. As I boarded the plane, all I had was a lace chart for the leaves (the result of at least half a dozen swatch experiments), and some yarn. As my design process seems to dictate, I had to frog the first glove several times and completely rethink the design. By the time I returned from my trip, I didn't have anything to show for the hours and HOURS of knitting, but I did have a pattern. I got back to work on the samples and was so surprised at how fast the projects went.

I'm not usually into such girly stuff. There's something slightly edgy about this design that somehow balances the prissy frills. I think fingerless gloves have kind of an 80's punk connotation. Miss Myrtle is  sort of like Laura Ashley meets Billy Idol. There's something kind of Madonna circa "Like a Virgin" about them too. That's fun.

I love my gloves and I can hardly wait to get the first pair back from Knitpicks. My friends want their own pairs. My mom wants a pair. Every time I wear them on the subway, a stranger asks where I got them. Convinced yet? Okay! Go here to buy the pattern!

All of the patterns for sale on THIS website are sold through Ravelry.com. I have recently agreed to let Knitpicks.com sell some of my patterns on their site in their independent designer program. Today I got a message from someone with a question about Knitpick's pricing on my patterns. I think maybe other people wonder how this works too, so I'm going to post my response here on my blog.

Her question regarding my Red Bud Gloves pattern was: I love your pattern, but I wasn’t happy to have paid $4.00 here on Ravelry when I could have purchased them for $1.99 on Knitpicks. Can you tell me why you have two different prices?

The simple answer is: I am an independent designer and Knitpicks sets their own prices for which I am not responsible.

When I first self-published this pattern I set the price at $4 because that's what I felt the pattern was worth. Later, I submitted my pattern to Knitpicks, and $1.99 is the price they set for it. Knitpicks does not have a contract to sell my pattern exclusively. Because of this, I can sell my pattern anywhere I want, including Ravelry and at my local yarn shop, for any price that I think is fair. Knitpicks uses their low prices on IDP's to attract customers to their site so they will buy more yarn, which is fine by me.

You may ask, why bother with knitpicks if they undervalue my pattern? I've got to look at it with a business point of view. For one, they are able to sell many more patterns than I can all by myself. Also, when I sell my pattern through Knitpicks, I get 100% of the profit. When I sell my pattern through Ravelry I only get around 50% of the profit because all the middlemen (like paypal etc) want their cut. I get the same amount of money per pattern one way or another. I have no incentive to lower the price that I personally set. And Knitpicks is selling lots of yarn, so they're happy to not take a cut.

One incentive to buying through Ravelry which might justify the higher price for you is that they've got fabulous pattern support.  For instance, if I notice an error in a pattern and I make a new version, anyone who purchased the pattern through Ravelry will get the new version automatically.  Additionally, you can always have access to your pattern in your Ravelry library from any computer with an internet connection, which is something my friends and I use often. Knitpicks doesn't do anything like that.

I hope this answers all the questions regarding this topic. I don't want anyone to be confused or upset about my prices because I really do think they are reasonable and fair. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

[caption id="attachment301" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Banner from Knitpicks.com"]<img class="size-full wp-image-301" title="KnitpicksIDPFeature" src="https://knitdarling.s3.amazonaws.com/attachments/254/blog/KnitpicksIDP_Feature.jpg" />[/caption]

One reason I began creating and designing my own clothing was because I had trouble with clothes fitting right off the rack. I was always tall for my age, and rail thin to boot (for the first half of my life anyway). So I learned how to sew. The first pair of pants that I made with a 36 inch inseam were truly a revelation. With my new skills, all that torturous shirt tugging and the constantly cold ankles would be no more!

[caption id="attachment275" align="alignnone" width="450"]<img class="size-full wp-image-275 " title="10thbirthday" alt="" src="https://knitdarling.s3.amazonaws.com/attachments/253/blog/10th_birthday.jpg" /> Standing very tall on my 10th birthday with my friends in our costumes[/caption]

For this reason, I make everything perhaps a bit longer than other people would prefer. As it turns out, not everyone in the world is a giant like me. Who knew? I've had some requests recently for instructions on how to make my Delancey Cardigan pattern shorter. Due to the unusual construction, I do not include these directions in the pattern, but I will try to explain how to do it here.

Below is an excerpt from an email I sent to a very nice lady who wanted a shorter Delancey Cardigan. These directions should shorten the torso section by about 20%.

"These directions assume that you want to maintain the same number of stripes on the body. You should change the stripe pattern to begin on row 21 instead of 29, and have 18 rows of MC between each section instead of 24 rows. The first stripe won’t start right at the center front, but it will look pretty much the same overall.

Follow the directions from the pattern (except the stripe pattern directions) until you get to row #89 (83 for plus sizes), at which point you should skip ahead to row #109 (103 for plus sizes). This should eliminate 20 rows and shorten the cardigan sufficiently.

On the sleeves, start the stripe pattern at the same point it says on the pattern. Again, just do 18 rows in MC between the thin stripe sections.

Also, you’ll need to pick up less stitches for the button band section, but that should be pretty easy for you to figure out. The directions are pretty clear about picking up 4 sts per inch along the front edge."

I hope this is helpful to all of you out there :)

I just realized that I had never introduced this new pattern on my blog, how silly! After the Delancey Cardigan, I really needed something fun and easy, enter Gowanus
(available for sale here).

You can call it a triangular scarf, or a shawl, or maybe even a scarflette (shawlette perhaps?) Whatever it is, I've always wanted to make something like this. I've made other attempts, but none came out so fully formed as this.

I bought the yarn last spring at a really fantastic yarn shop in Manhattan called School Products (no website unfortunately). If you ever get a chance you should definitely stop by. It's always instant inspiration for me.
[caption id="attachment_250" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Photo from Orchidarts on flickr"][/caption]

After knitting the sample I realized that I had done something really stupid. I had no idea who made the yarn. This is apparently a big no-no in the pattern authoring world. The label on the yarn said, "Wool- 50g". I knew where it came from at least so I stopped back by to ask the shopkeeper and he said that he thought it was from an Italian yarn company called "Natural Fantasy". Google was no help either. It's a really beautiful yarn, so I especially regret not being able to give you more information about it. A new sample is forthcoming, so this won't be a problem for too long.

I've been busy working on a new pattern that I plan to release in the next few days. In the meantime I thought I'd post a little sneak peak.





I love blocking so much. It's really like magic. I can take a formless blob and turn it into something crisp and beautiful. I feel like I'm showing my knitting who's boss!





A future rosette. Cute, right?

Delancey Cardigan. This was a whirlwind project that I completed from initial sketches to finished sample and pattern in just under a month. It was really hard work, but very much worth it. It's for KnitPicks independent designer program and will be available for purchase on their website as of today. In addition, I'm offering it for sale here and through Ravelry if that's what you prefer. I'll have more updates as soon as I get a chance to catch my breath!