Year in Review

2015 was a fantastic year for me, both personally and business-wise.  I was really productive as far as pattern writing goes, and not only were there no personal disasters, but I got to do some things that made me happy in my personal life, too.  So I thought I'd start a new tradition on this (almost) New Year's Eve that I hope to keep up: My year in review and goals for the New Year!

First a little look back.

Some designs from the Color Packs
& Stash Scraps Collection

Three things I'm proud of business-wise:

1) I published my first collection (and it was a pretty big one at that!)

2) I kept my goal of reaching out more to yarn dyes & distributers.  Out of the 22 designs I published in 2016, the yarn for 13 of the sample projects was supported by the yarn company.

3) I far exceeded my publishing goal (which was 12 patterns in the year), and I haven't done the math yet, but I have no doubt that this has been my best year of sales yet.





Three Things I'm proud of personally:

1) I stayed healthy all year.  I don't know if I've mentioned this on the blog, but I have Crohn's Colitis, and a couple years ago, I was not in good shape.  I've been on a drug called Remicade for 2 years now, and my health is better now than it has been in the past 10 years.

2) I took up the cello.  I have played the violin since I was 10, but after giving birth to a baby that was terrified of violin sounds, and now having a cat in the house that bites my ankles and climbs on things so he can bite the violin while I play....it's kind of hard to keep that up.  I've always been interested in the cello, so when the opportunity came along this fall to rent one and see if I liked it, I jumped on it.  I've had it in the house for 9 weeks now and I just began the level 3 Suzuki book.  I'd like to say that it's similar to playing the violin, and there certainly are techniques that I know from violin that translate to the cello, but it's a different notation (bass instead of treble clef), the fingering is different (you either skip playing with your 2nd or 3rd finger on each string, depending on the key signature), and the bow hold is completely different.  So it's been a lot to take on, but I practice every single day and I love it.

That's my husband and I, right before we
left the hotel to see Phantom

3) I was able to take my husband on a trip to San Francisco for his 40th birthday.  I would have loved to have been able to pull a "pack your bags, honey, we're leaving in the morning!" but I knew he would want time to get things organized at work before taking off.  Plus, I thought he'd pick San Francisco as his preferred destination, but I wasn't 100% sure, so I gave him 3 choices: San Francisco (with the highlight being a performance of "Phantom of the Opera", LA (where we could attend tapings of podcasts he listens to), or Disneyworld (because last time we were there with our kids who don't love rides, we talked about how fun it would be to just go without them!)  Anyway, he did indeed pick San Francisco and we took off on the 3rd vacation we've ever taken, just the two of us, in our 17 years of marriage.






My three favorite patterns from 2016:
It's kind of like having to choose which of your kids you like the best, but these three definitely have a special place in my heart:

1) Ziggy Pop (That's the hat on the right in this photo) - I love the bright pops of contrasting colors against the darker solid main color.  I enjoy simple colorwork, and I was absolutely thrilled that I figured out a way to carry the zig-zags right up through the crown of the hat to create a star-like pattern.  This might be my favorite hat that I've designed so far.

2) Borderline - It's such a simple shawl, but the Miss Babs gradient set that I used is so lovely that it doesn't need any fancy stitches to make it look good.  And the crochet border gives the shawl a lot of personality, while still being simple enough that a crochet novice (like me!) would have no trouble completing it.

3) Wavelength Tee - It's just super comfortable, easy care (I was Hempathy in the washer - in a garment bag - then dry it on a hanger).  I love that I can wear it with shorts or jeans, or with nicer pants & jewelry if I need to dress it up.

My favorite photo shoot of 2015:

Obviously, RollerGirl Raglan.  How could anything compete with this?

Three favorite projects I made from other people's patterns:

1) Passerine Hat  by Erica Heusser- I like the hat a lot, but it was more than that.  I also used this pattern to practice my "Invisible knitting", which I learned from the "It's Not About the Hat" pattern by Susan Rainey.

 2) Sun Powder by Elena Fedotova - This one was kind of a dare to myself.  I had just started playing with crochet around Christmas of 2013...it was kind of my "Christmas vacation project".  By Christmas of 2014 I was thinking to myself "I should try to make something more challenging than baby booties from crochet just to see how difficult it really is."  So I decided on a shirt.  And, of course, I couldn't make it simple and do the pattern as written, I had to choose a heavier yarn and rejigger the whole thing so it would come out the right size.  And in the end, I didn't love how it looked as a cardigan, so I made some adjustments and turned it into a pullover top.  But now I think it's great, and fun to wear over a sleeveless tank top!













3) I called this one "Sperry at the Opera" because it mixes two patterns: the basic shape comes from "Sperry" by Amy Miller and the color changes are modeled after "Opera" by Elise DuPont.  This is a comfortable everyday pullover, and I made it from Fat Squirrel Fibers yarn that I bought at the Knitting Pipeline retreat a few years back and held on to forever because I couldn't find a pattern worthy of it!












Favorite Knitting Thing Learned in 2015:

Invisible Stranding.  Check it out - it's a cross between double knitting and stranded knitting.  It is amazing for when you want to have long floats in a colorwork pattern.  The first project I made with this technique was my "It's All About the Invisible Stranding" hat.    The design on the front, in case you were wondering, is the symbol for "Cancer", my zodiac sign.  It is not, as my various family members suggested, a picture of sperm, numbers, or a yin-yang symbol.








After that hefty year-in-review run down, my goal for this year might not surprise you.  My number one goal for 2016 is: Balance.

2015 was busy.  And I actually like staying busy.  But I know that constant busyness is not always a good thing.  My kids are in 7th and 10th grade, so I'm looking at only having another year and a half with my oldest in the house, and that has made me more conscious of having time with my kids.  I also know that when creativity is an important part of what I'm doing, I have to be careful to not let it start feeling like a chore, because, for me, that's when my creativity falters.  Producing 22 patterns this year was a joy in many ways, but it has exhausted me.  In fact, I currently have 4 other patterns in various stages of being knit & written, but you'll probably only see one of those designs published this winter.  The other 3 are just going to hang out until I get my mojo back.  Meanwhile, I'll be knitting for pleasure, reading lots of books, playing my cello, and maybe sewing or drawing a little - both hobbies I have enjoyed in the past, but have not given any time to for the past few years.

For the past few years I've set a goal for myself of publishing 12 new knitting patterns.  This year, I'm not going to set a publication goal.  Instead, my goal is to get back to wanting to write new patterns.  (It is one thing to want to create new patterns - and I am still very motivated to do that for myself.  But it's a whole other thing to go through the steps to write, grade, edit, photograph, and test a new pattern so it's ready to share with others....that's the part I'm burnt out on at the moment.)

But I won't be disappearing completely.  Since I'll still be knitting, I'll still be blogging and I'll still be around on social media & Ravelry.  In fact, I'll be hosting a knit-along in January & Feb (more on that on Friday!)  But don't be surprised if you don't see a new pattern from me for a while....my pattern-writing days are not over, but I am taking a little time to regroup and remember the joy in creating!

The Grand Finale: Swirls & Curls!

Are there any words sweeter to a knitter's ear than "100% Cashmere"?  I think not.  

So when I came up with the idea to ask for support from a variety of different yarn companies, approaching Pepperberry Knits, the maker of the 100% cashmere sport & dk-weight mini skein bundles, was a total no-brainer.  

And can you even stand the bright & fun mix of colors in the cowl (above)?  It's the "Urbanite" color way, and I can see why it's a popular seller for Pepperberry Knits.  About 1/4 of the Ravelry project pages that use this yarn have it labeled as being the "Urbanite" colorway!  

 I had so much yardage leftover after making my first sample (the one on the right without the i-cord edge in this photo), that I made a second sample.  This one combined the Pepperberry Knits leftovers with my Sweet Georgia leftovers I still had from my Sweet Stripes legwarmer samples.  I thought the two yarns worked really nicely together. I finished the second cowl off with applied i-cords around the top & bottom edges just as an "alternate ending" to this project.

Below, you'll see a close-up of the two ways you can finish this cowl.  Either just knit it up with the textured edges and be done (right), or work applied i-cords around each edge for a more polished finish (left).

This cowl pattern gives written instructions for things like the cast-on, when to change colors, and how to finish, but the colorwork design itself is charted.  So in order to knit this one, you have to be willing to read a colorwork chart.

Other than that, it's pretty straightforward!  It's knit flat, then seamed with Kitchener stitch.  Video links are included in the pattern to help you along with the techniques that might be less familiar.  If you would like more specifics, you can find them on the Ravelry pattern listing page here.  If you would like to purchase the pattern, remember it's available as a single pdf download, or as part of the Color Packs & Stash Scraps collection!

Many thanks to Heidi at Pepperberry Knits for supporting this project and sending an extra gorgeous bundle of yarn!  I am looking forward to awarding it as one of the prizes for the Color Packs & Stash Scraps Knit-along that will run in the Trappings & Trinkets Ravelry group from January 1st through February 28th.  If you are interested in knitting any project from the entire 13-project collection, please consider joining us!  There aren't any rules or requirements other than 1) Knit anything from the Color Packs & Stash Scraps collection and 2) In order to be entered for prizes, please post a finished photo to the "Finished Projects" thread by February 28th.  Enjoy knitting along with others who might be making the same project as you, or other projects that are made from their favorite mini skein color packs, or are using up some of their lightweight stash leftovers, and you'll also have a place to post where I'll always be checking in to see if I can answer any questions you might have!

New Release: Tessie

Remember summer?

I love summer.  Walking around in bare feet, spending lazy afternoons knitting in my backyard, letting the kids ride their bikes up to the old-fashioned candy store on the square, staying up late, and being able to forget about a schedule some days.....sigh....how many more days until summer?

Oh wait, I was going to talk about this little number.  I am actually not 100% sure what I should call it.  It's kind of a vest, but it has sleeves, so that's not quite right.  It's kind of a cardigan, but it's pretty skimpy to fully qualify, so that one is out, too.  A shrug?  The construction is similar to many shrugs I've knit in the past, but shrugs are usually more cropped than this little sweater.  So "Tessie" it is.  No label, or all the labels - you can call it a shrug, cardigan or vest.  But I'm just going to call it Tessie.          

Tessie is the perfect compliment to a summer outfit.  I wear a lot of sleeveless tops & dresses, but there are times where I feel a little underdressed just walking around in a little sleeveless, cotton tank top.  Throw this on top and I immediately go from "A little naked - aren't you the mom of a teenage boy?" to "classy and stylish".

Construction is simple.  Cast on at the back of the bottom hem and work increase rows until the cardigan goes around the body to create an angled hem that is longer in the back and visually "nips in" at the waist.   Then continue on with the established stripe pattern until you divide the stitches into 2 front sections and 1 back section and basically work those to the shoulder before seaming.   The cap sleeves are knit as part of the body, then given a little more length with a handful of edging rounds.

This pattern pairs perfectly with a "combo pack" from Wonderland Yarns - this is one full skein of Mad Hatter sport-weight merino yarn, and one mini skein color pack of Mad Hatter yarn.  Because I wanted to stay within the size range I could get from one combo pack of yarn, this pattern is written for 8 sizes ranging from a Child's Size 6 up through a Women's Medium (that's the sample size in the photos, shown on a 37.5" bust, and it took just about every last yard of the yarn to make it.  If you tend to need  every last yard that I recommend for my patterns, I'd recommend either buying a second full skein of your main color - in the sample, that's the gray yarn - or being flexible about the length of your sweater - you can always work one stripe less if you're running short on yarn.)

Instructions are both written and charted - three charts visually spell out the stripe pattern, and the written instructions supplement the charts by telling you things like when to jump from one chart to the next, when to divide the stitches into a back and 2 fronts, and how to work the neckline shaping.

Tessie is just the thing to throw in your bag when you're meeting friends for lunch at that place where the air conditioning is always turned up a little too high.  Make one for your daughter to wear over her sleeveless Easter dress since you know it's almost always too chilly at the end of March for those dresses anyway!  Or grab it to throw over your summer tank top when you're headed somewhere that's not overly casual, or when your daughter needs to cover up just a skitch more.  It's a great wardrobe piece that will prove to be useful in all sorts of situations!

You can buy Tessie now as an individual pattern download on Ravelry here, or as one of 12 (soon to be 13) patterns in the Color Packs & Stash Scraps eBook collection!

An Interview with GAL Designer: Tania Richter

Tania Richter

This week, I get to welcome Tania Richter to the blog. She's an American designer who goes by the name AetherFang on Ravelry.

A quick look at her designs will tell you that she is not just interested in creating wearable garments and accessories. She is here to create art. And you can see her love of fantasy novels, anime, and role-playing games in every piece she designs. I'll admit that I don't share her love of fantasy, but I absolutely love that each of her designs are a unique reflection of her, and the fantastic things she is interested in!

• How did you become part of the knitting community?

I randomly found Ravelry when I was in college. After graduation I got into dyeing yarns with kool-aid and ended up joining What a Kool Way to Dye group, and progressed into the Malabrigo fan group soon after I discovered my LYS. I ended up joining a weekly knitting group and now teach classes at my LYS.

Drachen Jäger Kimono Sweater © Tania Richter

• Is there a knitting resource that you would recommend to others (a book, video, pattern, tutorial series, podcast, etc)?

I'm a big fan of Knit Purl Hunter. Very good tutorials for all different types of knitting!
• What motivated you to begin publishing patterns for others to use?

A few years ago I discovered that I was having an extremely difficult time breathing around perfumes and synthetic scents. The issue got to the point that I was constantly sick and ended up quitting my job at a bookstore. We discovered soon after that I was having anaphylactic reactions to certain triggers and would have to work from home for the most part. Back then I was knitting mainly as a hobby, but I decided to go ahead and put some fox hats I had designed and knit into a convention art show and see if they sold. They did, and there was a decent demand for them so I started spending my days knitting many, many hats with various animal ears. I would sell them online and at the occasional convention.   

  I was originally designing the Cloud Dragon scarf in my free time as a personal project while working on the hats. I put up a screenshot of what the chart looked like in the Double-knitting group on Ravelry and I had a lot of interest in the pattern. At the urging of one of the members I ran the pattern as a Mystery Knit-along, and the release was so successful that I decided to start pursuing more pattern designs and phasing out of the knitted hats.
Drachen Jäger Kimono Sweater © Tania Richter

• In 3 words, describe your design style.   Knitted Fantasy Art

Kimono Sweater Trip © Tania Richter

• Your designs are very distinctive - usually covered in color work art that reflects your love of fantasy creatures and their stories. How is the creative outlet you get from designing knitting patterns different than the ones you get through your fantasy writing and artwork?

With both art and writing you have pretty much infinite possibilities to play with. Colors, characters, lighting, mood... these can all be fairly easily changed in either medium. Designing for knitting patterns, especially with two color double knitting, forces you to constrain yourself. You have to be extremely creative to get across complicated pictures with a limited palette and space to work. It's also extremely fun to be able to wear art that you designed.

325 Winged Triangle Shawl © SoHo Publishing / Rose Callahan

• Tell me the story behind your favorite pattern.


That honor would probably have to go to the #25 Triangle Wing Shawl. I was playing around on Ravelry back in March when I got a message from one of the editors asking if I would like to do a design for the Double Knitting feature for the Fall 2015 Vogue Knitting Issue. I jumped on board using a pattern I'd thought up a while back, a set of wings that anyone could wear. It was a very fun pattern to design, and the quickest project I've ever managed to knit! I love how it turned out, and it's been great seeing everyone else's variations on the pattern.

Epic Cloud Dragon © Tania Richter

• What is your favorite knitting trick or tip?

When double knitting, use Kitchener stitch to bind off the pattern. It gives a very smooth finish to the piece and pairs well with the Invisible Cast On for Double Knitting.

• What knitting notion can you not live without?

Stitch markers, especially on the more complicated patterns.

• Do you have a favorite design (of your own)?

Rise from the Ashes. I like it enough that I've made two of them.

• Do you have an under-appreciated design?

I would probably have to go with the Winter's Ward Dragon Cowl.

• What was your favorite thing that you knit in 2015 that you did not write the pattern for?

I'm currently halfway through a Military Jacket sweater. I love how it's knitting up, I just need to be able to set aside the time to finish it!

• What is your knitting or designing resolution for 2016?

I would like to release a new double-knit sweater pattern, this time with a cardigan style and less-fluffy sleeves.

10 Quickie Questions:
Neutrals or Brights? Neutrals
Metal or Bamboo? Both
Felt-able wool or super wash? Superwash
Color work or cables? Color work
Solids or tonals? Solids
Fun fur or ruffle yarn? Fun fur
Self-striping or variegated? Self-striping
Scarves or shawls? Scarves
Garter or Stockinette? Stockinette
Dpns or magic loop? Magic Loop

You can find more Tania on:
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
Tania's Knitting Blog

Remember that it's not too late to participate in any of the Indie Design gift-along KALs with one of Tania's patterns, or any pattern from a participating designer!  Not sure if the pattern you are working on was written by a participating designer?  Just go to this thread, click on "search this topic" at the top of the message board, then enter the designer's Ravelry name (for example, mine is "colie75") in the "written by" field, then click "search this topic".  If your designer is participating, his or her name will pull up the post that shows the patterns that designer had on sale for the first week of the gift-along.  But any purchased pattern, not just the sale patterns, is eligible for entering in the finished object prize thread (only projects made from free patterns are ineligible.)  So far there are over 1000 entries!  So join the fun, show off your project, and maybe you'll be one of the many winners at the conclusion of the KALs!  (Deadline for all entries is December 31, 2015.)

New Release: Lavedia Dress

My great-grandma, Edith Lavedia was born in Southern Illinois in 1904.  She didn't like her first name, so she went by her middle name.  As an adult, she was the woman on the block who hosted all the neighborhood kids.  She later babysat her grandchildren, and for a time in the early 50s, allowed her son's family to live in an attic apartment in her house.  And she took pleasure in having the kids' friends over to her house as well.  Living well into her late 90s, she was even able to create strong bonds with her great-grandchildren, all girls.  

As a young child, I got to visit her at least one morning or afternoon most weeks, and as a teen, I enjoyed occasionally walking to her house after school for a visit.  Somewhere along the line, with so many young kids calling her by name, it went from "Lavedia" to "Vee-Dee" to "Bebe", which is what I always called her.

Grandma Bebe made french toast with Crisco in the frying pan in the morning after you spent the night in her guest room in the attic (not nearly as creepy as it might sound!)  She never tired of playing board games with her grandkids.  She never drove, but would tell stories about taking the street car "into town" during World War II when she worked in a factory in Kankakee, IL, or when she met her girlfriends for a fun outing.  Bebe was resourceful, a "Martha Stewart" before Martha was even born, and all-around crafty lady who canned all sorts of fruits & vegetables, made Christmas tree balls out of beads & pins, had a basement full of refrigerator boxes for kids to turn into forts, and taught me how to use her table-mounted Singer sewing machine from the 1940s.  

She was the married mother of a young child during the depression, and her habit of washing out plastic bread bags to save them for later use never left her.  I remember asking her why she only had one child, since it was so obvious she enjoyed children quite a lot.  Her answer was that it was so difficult for my grandpa to see her in labor (I guess they let the men witness it in rural Texas in the late 1920s), that he declared "No more!  Never again!"  But I wonder if it also had to do with the fact that their son was born just 10 months before the stock market crashed and they were thankful to be able to get by when so many had so little.  Maybe adding another child to the family seemed like too big a risk, then by the time the economy recovered they were past the point of wanting to start over with the first steps of parenting again.  Whatever the reason, Grandma Bebe more then made up for any extra babies she never had by the scores of grandkids and neighborhood kids that she helped to raise!  

Grandma Bebe was a crocheter; I never knew her to knit.  And her specialty was afghans, not garments.  But I know from the little aprons, tea towels, and pillow cases that she sewed that she liked things that were simple but had pretty embellishments.  And that perfectly describes this little A-line dress with its woven empire waist band and trim details.

I don't have any close friends with babies right now, and when I was telling my LYS owner that I'd probably have to take photos of this dress on a hanger, she said, "Let me think...."  And then she arranged for me to meet a friend of hers with a baby who was just about a year old.  When I stopped by to make sure the dress was a good fit, I had terrible timing.  Mom had just gotten home from work, baby was just home from daycare, dinner was cooking but not served yet, and I made the rookie mistake of slipping the dress on baby instead of asking mom to do it.  (That amateur move sent baby into hysterics....the things you forget when you haven't had babies in the house for 10 years!)

But when I arrived a week later to take pictures, toting a box of distractions just in case baby still hated me, she was in a great mood, and even gave me a couple smiles.  But when mom attempted to sit her down on a blanket in the yard for a couple solo pictures, she gave me the suspicious side-eye and made it clear that she was not happy with mom being three whole feet away.  So mom stepped in, as moms always do, and was a very good sport about being in the photos as well.  (Quick funny story about mom: As I was chatting about my kids, she said she was surprised to know that I had a 15-year-old, and when I said I had just turned 40, that surprised her, too.  When she later gave me her e-mail address so I could send her photos, I saw it ended with "76" and asked her if she was just a year younger than me.  I had her pegged for being around 30, so I guess we either are both blessed with good genes, or we have absolutely no ability to discern people's ages!)

Anyway, this perfect little peanut may only be 12 months old, but thanks probably to her dad who is well over 6 feet tall, she was a perfect fit in the 18 month size.  This size took every last skitch of the 3 gray skeins of yarn in the gradient pack, but only used about half of the pink yarn.  

Speaking of the yarn, don't you love pink & gray for little girl's clothing?  When I saw the "Shabby Chic" gradient pack from June Pryce Fiber Arts Etsy shop, the idea of a little girl's dress immediately sprung to mind.  I chose the "Plum Panda" yarn base because I thought adding bamboo to the wool blend would make for a drapier result.  Plus I love using something washable when making baby clothes, especially when I'm giving the final product to a mom of a young child who doesn't need a baby garment that requires special care.

 As shown, this dress makes a lovely warm-weather frock, but it would work great for colder weather when work with a long-sleeved onesie and tights underneath.  I can see it done in red or green, maybe with a bit of black or white mixed in and worn as a Christmas dress.  Or make it in pastels for a special Easter Dress.

Special occasion or casual, however you use this pattern, this comfortable style is sure to be a hit with your favorite little lady and her mom as well!

Many thanks to the three lovely ladies who test knit this pattern - kcatt79, Babbett & momma2five2014 - I appreciate all the time & effort you put into this test knit.  Thanks also to Cheryl from June Pryce Fiber Arts, who has been a gem to work with.

The Lavedia Dress pattern is available as an individual pattern download on Ravelry.  Or, you can buy it as part of my Color Packs & Stash Scraps eBook collection, which is still available at a discounted price!

An Interview with GAL Designer: Lisa Chemery

Madame Entrechat © Lisa Chemery

Welcome to another interview with an Indie Design Gift-along designer! This week, I hope you enjoy reading about Lisa Chemery, who you may better know as "Frogginette".

• How did you become part of the knitting community?

My grandmother taught me how to knit when I was about 7, but I wasn't very interested. I picked up my needles again in my early 20s, and discovered Ravelry a few years later, in 2008. I started designing and selling my patterns around that time.

• Is there a knitting resource that you would recommend to others (a book, video, pattern, tutorial series, podcast, etc)?

I really enjoy Ysolda Teague's and Rililie's tutorials as well as Robin Hunter's blog "How to become a professional knitter." I've also recently discovered and enjoyed the Creative Yarn Entrepreneur podcast by Marie Segares.

Entrechat © Lisa Chemery

• What motivated you to begin publishing patterns for others to use?

I wasn't seeing the kinds of children's designs that I wanted to knit and I thought others might like to knit them as well.

• So far, your designs focus heavily on children’s knits. Do you have any adult designs in the works, or do you strongly prefer pattern writing for children? 

I do have adult designs on my to-do list but it seems that they always get pushed to the back burner, ha! It seems that I am not patient enough to work on adult-sized garments at the moment! I always have more ideas than I can handle and I like to move on to the next project quickly. I also have so much fun designing for babies and children, that's what really inspires me right now.

Tiered Coat and Jacket © Lisa Chemery

Tartlette © Lisa Chemery

• Have you ever had that “NOW I feel like a real designer!” moment? Tell me about that.

I think the response I got when I published my Tiered Baby Coat years ago was so strong that I thought, ok, you might be on to something here. But I was still wondering if it was a fluke, a one-time hit. But then came Entrechat, Latte Baby Coat etc... And it seemed clear that I had found my audience. 

• What is your favorite knitting trick or tip? 

I really like the look of the I-cord edging and the I-cord bind off.

• What knitting notion can you not live without?

Clover locking stitch markers

• Do you have a favorite design (of your own)?

That's a very difficult question to answer. You are kind of asking whether I have a favorite child, haha! I like all my designs for different reasons.

• Do you have an under-appreciated design?

Yes, I would say that my Framboise top and my Petite Feuilles Booties have not done as well as I hoped. I love them both! My daughter got so much wear out of the booties, I found them to be very warm and practical.

• What is your knitting or designing resolution for 2016?

Knit faster!!

10 Quickie Questions:

Tutu Top © Lisa Chemery

Neutrals or Brights? Both!
Metal or Bamboo? Bamboo
Felt-able wool or super wash? Superwash
Color work or cables? Colorwork (though I would have answered cables last month!)
Solids or tonals? Tonals
Fun fur or ruffle yarn? Mmmm... I can't abide either I'm afraid.
Self-striping or variegated? Variegated
Scarves or shawls? Scarves
Garter or Stockinette? Garter
Dpns or magic loop? Dpns

Where to find Frogginette:
Blog
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
Ravelry
Craftsy
Etsy

Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, Lisa!

New Release: Fading Bias

  Are you a sucker for gradients?  I love the skeins that have long color changes moving from a darker to a lighter shade of the same color, or the skeins that move slowly from one color to a totally different color.  But when I saw the gradient mini skein packs on the Black Trillium website.....well, it was obvious I needed to come up with a project for one of those to include in the Color Packs & Stash Scraps collection!

Black Trillium offers gradient packs in 4 bases - 2 are fingering-weight, one is dk, and the last is worsted.  Fading Bias is written for Lilt Sock, the gorgeous merino/silk blend which includes 675 yds of yarn per pack (and uses almost all of it), but if you were dying to try the Pebble Sock base, or already had that on hand, you could easily make this pattern work by just leaving a couple mesh rows out of each big color block to make sure you don't run short on yarn.

This pattern is one of those projects where it takes you a moment to look over the pattern and figure out exactly what is going on, but once you're a couple rows in, the stitch pattern is easily memorized and the knitting becomes meditative.  I'm as much a process knitter as a project knitter, so I love bigger projects that take more than a few days, but don't have any complicated parts that might force me to stop and wait until I have some time to concentrate before I can move on with my knitting.  This is the type of project that I can bring with me when I'm in a waiting room, something I can pick up and put down, something I can knit while I'm watching tv or riding in the car.  




It makes a cheerful winter accessory, giving just a little extra layer of warmth to the neck & shoulders.  And because it's made from light-weight yarn and is mostly mesh, it easily coordinates with warmer-weather clothes as well.

This scarf uses pretty basic stitches - knit, purl, yarn over, knitting 2 stitches together, knitting into the front & back legs of one stitch.  The two things that might be a little trickier for beginning knitters would be carrying colors up the side (only in small sections) and fixing mistakes if they occur.  (I'd recommend using a lifeline if fixing mistakes makes you crazy, although every RS row is basically a "rest row".)

I owe the generous ladies who test knit this pattern, LTimms, ekolatch & DeChertsey, a big thank you!  And another big thank you goes to Melanie, the woman behind Black Trillium Fibres, who supported this project even though I was fairly vague in my proposal!  You can check out her website here, or get a glimpse into her life on Instagram here.

Fading Bias is available as an individual pattern download on Ravelry now.  If you've already purchased the Color Packs & Stash Scraps collection, you can access this new pattern by clicking the "update available" button that should appear next to the pattern collection icon in your Ravelry library.  And if you haven't purchased the collection yet, you can still get it at a discounted price here!