Wool Tribe 2017 & Edinburgh Yarn Festival

It's another lovely week in New Zealand, and there's some very exciting news from home in Scotland too! Today pre-orders are live for Wool Tribe, the Edinburgh Yarn Festival guide.  Whether you're going to the festival or not, there are some truly beautiful patterns in this little book, which yours truly was lucky enough to be a part of!

My pattern is Traquair, which is a hat and mitten set.  The yarn is from SkeinQueen, a very firm favourite.  (I'd highly recommend her club, if you're looking for some very smooshy yarn deliveries!  Each months yarn is based on a book, which does add a nice depth to the club.  I might have had a medium sized purchasing accident in the SQ shop update earlier...)

All the patterns can be viewed on the Edinburgh Yarn Festival website, where there's lots more information about the festival too.  Unfortunately I won't be able to make the festival in Edinburgh this year, but I'm very much looking forward to catching up with everyone who goes!

You can already hop over to the Wool Tribe Ravelry page to get liking and queuing your favourites, all lined up and ready for knitting!

Are you going to EYF?  Have you planned projects to wear at the festival?!








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New Collection: As Autumn Falls

Autumn is my favourite season, and October one of my favourite months.  I adore the changing colour of the trees, the rapid change from peaceful green to burning reds, oranges & yellows.  As I've mentioned before, we chose our flat because of how close to the Kelvin & botanic garden it is, a lovely river which flows almost unnoticed in the west end of Glasgow through leafy green avenues, passing by a wonderful arboretum. 

I'm not sure if people really realise the arboretum is there, it's always lovely and quiet, even on the warmest of sunny days, tucked away across the road at the back of the botanic gardens.

It's from this changing of seasons, from the turning of the leaves and the crispy drop in temperature, that the Autumn collection is derived (here on rav). 

Front centre of "Baile" cardigan, as below

Comprised of a golden brown/orange cardigan - Baile, two gorgeous hats inspired by hay bales and golden twigs - Bulgurwheat & Slipthatch, and last but certainly not least, the Emmer shawl - a slightly more sombre pink/brown shawl, inspired by empty stalks and leafless branches. 

The entire collection is knitted in beautiful malabrigo yarns; a super soft merino for the shawl, superwash merino for cardigan (sensible), and silky soft merino/silk for the lighterweight hat with a single spun worsted beauty for the heavier weight hat.

Emmer- I wanted emmer to be loghtweight but warm, so used twisted stitches and occasional yarn overs to add detail to this delicate but robust shawl.  Using 150g of 4ply, it's just the right size for wrapping around your shoulder when those cold October winds begin to blow!

 

Baile - I wanted this cardigan to look complex whilst being very simple to knit, and think we've managed!  The front panels are a short repeat, easily knitted with only basic knowledge of ssk, k2tog and yo. 

Charts are written out as well, so if confused you can always use both!  

Slipthatch - this hat blocked beautifully.  The woven stitch creates a dense fabric in this worsted yarn - this hat is toasty!!  It's inspited by hay bales and thatched rooves and warm autumnal fun.

 

Bulgurwheat - after that toaster of a hat I needed something more delicate - how about one which reminds me of bare stems and golden stems of flowers long gone? 

 

On Ravelry the patterns are individually priced.  £9 for the 4-piece collection - I think ravelry adds tax to this depending on where you are! 

If there's enough interest, maybe we could run a wee knit-along in the Ravelry group? 

Which new item is your favourite??  What's your favourite time of year, and if it's Autumn, is it for different reasons to me?

GingerSnaps

Inspired by biscuits; probably doesn’t taste like one. Try it in the colours of your favourite snack, of ignore my ramblings and just go ahead knit it in a nice colour.

As anyone will attest, I have a little bit of a sweet tooth.  I'll happily eat lemon meringue pie for dinner.  It was only a matter of time before this translated into my knitting.  You know you've eaten too many sweets when the reputation you've acquired at work is 'that wee one who eats all the sweeties'.

Whilst this hat was in test knitting I became a little disheartened, because a similar one appeared at the same time :(  However, given the lace panelling, brim, general multicolourness were all different, I couldn't drop my pretty hat!  I suppose it's one of these unfortunate coincidences which occur from time to time.  This wee lovely probably won't see much knitting, but melikes it :)

Construction: 

Beginning with a provisional cast on, this hat is knit from the brim up toward the crown. It has a double layer brim, and is constructed of two complimentary lace patterns.

The directions are written using two colours, but if you’d like to use only one throughout, just ignore the colour changing instructions.

You can find it here on Ravelry!

Will-'O-The-Wisp

It's here!  My little Will-O'-The-Wisp hat is back, and it's now available in my Ravelry store!  

Inspiration

With the vivid colours of the trees & flowers drawing you in, it’s the perfect time for a woodland wander.  This little cabled hat, so reminiscent of a will-‘o-the-wisp itself, just draws you into stories & daydreams from your childhood.  One of my favourites was always about those naughty little wisps who would lure unwary travellers deep into the forest.  Construction Knit In 2x2 rib from the brim, changing to the cable pattern as you knit upward toward the crown.   Both written and charted instructions are provided.

Photo-time & Afternoon Tea

Perhaps it was an excuse for some gratuitous posing, but today we took our knits to the botanic gardens and got a little carried away!  Sunshine was out, and it was a great brisk winter day.  Y'know the good kind - nippy noses, pink cheeks and frozen toes, but no wet socks.  Lunch at the botanics tearoom was *yummy*, and I juuust managed to squeeze in a scone...  butter, jam and cream...

Unfortunately, none of the statues were available for photographing, so I manned up.


Some updated photos for Dandelion and Bru!  There are a few other wee pictures, but they shall need to remain hidden for the time being! :p  Want to be the first to find out what they'll be?  Sign up for the newsletter here :D

Will-'O-The-Wisp in KnitNow September Issue

Eepity!

Will-O'-The-Wisp by OwlPrintPanda.
Photo (c) Dan Walmsley for Practical Publishing

The September Issue of KnitNow has just arrived, and I couldn't be more excited!  Apart from the fact that it's a rather brilliant little issue anyway, I had the chance to contribute to this one.

Here's the hat on Ravelry - have a peek at the other items in the issue whilst you're there!!



If you missed the bloggy post yesterday, you can head over here to see that too :)

xx

Dandelion Hat!

Yey!  It's finally published!  After convincing my lovely man to take some wee photos of this amazing hat, and all the lovely test knitters finishing their brilliant versions, it is time :D

D'ye like it?? 

Pattern Information & Construction Notes:
This is a slouchy style hat, knit in the round using mosaic colourwork detail. Knit from ribbed brim, on smaller needles for snug fit, through patterned body on the larger needles up to the crown in two colours. You could also use the jogless stripe technique to ensure seamless transition between colours.

Instructions are provided for four sizes.

Finished Measurements:
Adult (Toddler, Child, Large Adult) finished size to fit 20”(16”,18”,22”) circumference heads. The standard length of this slouchy hat is approximately 10” (8”,10”,10”), though directions are included should you wish to vary this.

Yarn: 
Two complimentary shades of 4ply/sport yarn are required, approximately 200 yards of main colour and 100 yards of alternate colour will be required for the adult size. Allow 250/120 for larger size.

Hat shown is knit in Fyberspates Scrumptious 4ply/sport, main colour (MC) oatmeal, alternate colour (AC) gold. This is a gorgeous silky smooth, shiny yarn. Though the hat would work equally well on another 4ply or sportweight yarn.

Needles: 
3.5mm (US 4) Double Pointed needles (or your preferred circular knitting method). You may wish to use 3.25mm or 3mm needles for the ridged brim to ensure snug fit.

Gauge: 
This is a lovey silky slouchy hat, so don’t worry too much about gauge. If you really really want exact gauge, the shown hat has 30 stitches and 40 rows in 4” in the wave stitch used for the body.

You can grab the pattern here on Ravelry, or here on Etsy :)

Dent-de-Lion; pretty words and a call for test knitters!

Did you know, that our Dandelion (y'know, that oh so pretty weed children everywhere love to blow the seeds of all over town), is named from the french 'Dent-de-lion', meaning 'Lions Tooth'?

Etymology (thew study of the origin of words) is very interesting, I'm always so intrigued as to how some of these words came about!  Anyhoo, I did ponder all of this lots whilst knitting up my new hat!

As with any new hat, I am of course looking for test knitters.  I will apologise in advance for these provisional photographs because my camera is still in the fixing shop :(

The stitch I used is one which caught my eye from my new stitch library book "400 Knitting Stitches by Potter Craft" - it's a gorgeous little book with good written notation and clear charts, along with lovely photos of large swatches of each and every stitch.  I would highly reccomend it!

My favourite part of the hat, the main feature and it’s namesake, is the part approaching the crown, as the yarn overs draw together to form one last large dandelion, with yarn loops reaching out as if you could just blow them off the top of your head!

TheDent-de-Lion hat is very slouchy, knit from brim to crown in the round, using two colours.  It comes in 4 sizes (toddler, child, adult and large adult).

To knit the hat, you would need:
Needles:  3.5mm DPNs
Yarn: Fyberspates Scrumptious 4ply superwash
200yards of main colour (oatmeal)
100yards of alternate colour (gold)
 You don't have to use this yarn, any 4ply/sport weight would be lovely, I'm sure :)

Competencies:  knitting in the round, colourwork, the following stitches: knit, purl, yarn overs, twisted stitches, decreases.

Feedback :  I'd really appreciate some constructive feedback;  how easy did you find the pattern to follow? Could anything have been clearer?  What needs to be added and can anything be removed because it's unneccesary?  Also, it would be brilliant to havesome photos so they can be uploaded to your projects on Ravelry once the pattern is published :)  It would also be ideal if this could be within the next 2-3 weeks.

EDIT:  There are now enough test knitters for the adult sizes.  If you'd like to knit up a childs version, please do get in touch and I shall send you the pattern.  Email me at owlprintpanda@gmail.com, including your Ravelry username :).

Love! x

DIY: The Ominous Lighthouse Hat Knitting Pattern

Cheesy hat-story (*history*, gettit? muahahaha):

Whilst visiting my partners relatives on Mull, we decided to walk one of the many trails on the island.  The entire week was stormy, the walk was one of the wettest I have ever embarked upon - the weather threw hailstones, sheets of rain and gale force winds at us.  Suddenly, looming in the distance, we spotted the Ominous Lighthouse.  I decided I loved this lighthouse and upon arriving back at home in front of the warm fire, delved into the yarn stash I had packed in my suitcase (don't we all take unnecessary yarn on holiday with us?) and chose the warmest most rustic yarn I could find. Serendipity dictated that I had indeed brought the wooliest most sheep-like yarn I own, and the lighthouse seemed destined to influence this hat.

So when you're choosing your yarn, and knitting your yummy scrunchy warm hat, think on the wind and the hail, and of the looming lighthouse by the cold winter sea.

I shall put up a little post soon with more photos from my little Mull trip, it really was very pretty :)

This is a striped, slouchy style hat with a ribbed brim, striped body and pompom finish.

Worked upwards completely in the round, the hat is ribbed for the brim, then uses simple knit stitches for the main body; using two colours & an (optional) jogless stripe technique.

Instructions are provided for two hat sizes.  The length of the hat can also be altered by adding repeat rows within the pattern (as explained in pattern instructions).

Finished Measurements:   

Small(Large) finished size to fit 20”(22”) circumference heads. 

Yarn:

Two complimentary colours of aran weight yarn, 120 – 180m; or approximately 60-80m(70-90m) of each colour will be required, allowing yourself an amount at the higher end of the range if you wish to elongate the hat or add larger pompoms.

Model hat is knit using Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds Fine Boucle, in ‘Dark Brown Masham’ and ‘Masham Stripe’.

Needles:

5mm (US size 8) Double Pointed or Circular needles.  You may wish to use smaller needles for the ribbed brim (e.g. 4.5mm or US size 7) to make it tighter.

Gauge:  

Because this is a wooly slouchy hat, don’t be too worried about your gauge.  The model hat is knitted to a gauge of 17 stitches by 22 rows in four inches on 5mm needles. 

You can view the pattern on Ravelry for free here

I hope you might like making it!  Let me know if you do!

What lovely plans do you have for this coming week?

Amanda :) x