New Pattern: Tangence

It's here!  This lace top has been in the making for many moons now, and today is the big one - out into the wild it goes!

Though winter is edging it's way into my life here in New Zealand at the moment, I'm thoroughly enjoying all your lovely sunny photos from Scotland.  Now seemed the right time for the summer top to come out to play.  Saying that - it was still warm enough here this week to model a lace top!

Tangence is part garter, part lace.  Worked from the back, over the shoulders and down the front this top is interesting and relatively quick to knit. Seamed with a three needle bind off and finished with applied i-cord, there are also a few very satisfying finishing touches which introduce ways to customise your own creation. 

Yarn is merino/silk from The Wool Kitchen, which was wonderful to work with - it's shiny and drapey, and the Punch Drunk colour way is just... amazingly orange.  

Head over to Ravelry for the pattern and more details, and hit The Wool Kitchen for your yarn!

Until the end of 27th May, you can use code 'Orange' on Ravelry for 50% off :)

 

  

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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Wuthering: New Pattern

A fair while ago now, I had a reather exciting chat with Helen of The Wool Kitchen (who is amazingly lovely).  The result is this scrumptious cowl, knit with two skeins of one of my favourite semi-solid colourways.  

Wuthering is knit in the round, and travels through several stitch patterns.  Nice and simple!  Back to my original pattern philosophy of 'less complicated than it looks'. 

Apparently the most popular photo from the entire shoot is the outtake which caught me trying to fit bodily into the cowl.  I'd like to argue that I was demonstrating the extreme smooshyness of the cowl/yarn combo, but I was just being ridiculous.

 

My patient friend Lauren helped me with the photos above, and I bothered the boy into helping me take some during one of our Scottish castle trips! 

The cowl itself was thought up on one of these trips - inspired by those hardiest of plants who manage to thrive despite the wind and rain on the precipice of mountains, cliff-tops and long-neglected gardens. Delicate yet resilient, these admirable little plants are represented in the ‘rocky’ lace and floral patterns of this cowl.

 

 

 

Yarn: The Wool Kitchen DK in colourway Wuthering.  2 skeins (400m).
Needles: 5mm (UK)



Find Helen:
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Thewoolkitchen
Twitter: @thewoolkitchen

New Pattern: Syne Shawlette

Just in time for the weekend is the Syne shawlette!

It's inspired by fireworks at New Year, which are particularly beautiful when viewed over the castle in Edinburgh. This shawlette is a one skein knit, inspired by those most giant of explosions which radiate outward to end in further noise and sparkles. 

The yarn!  Oh goodness the yarn.  It's the Lush Light base by Rainbow Heirloom, which is made up of alpaca, silk and cashmere.    It's the most gorgeous shade of green as well, I really fell in love.

Given that you’ve been knitting for others all through December, January might be time for a little something for yourself.   What are you currently making for yourself?

 

Similar to my previous shawls, it's semi-circular shaped, beginning with a garter tab at the centre top, increasing as you knit down toward the lace border.

 

 

You can find Syne on ravelry here.  

 

 

(c) Rainbow Heirloom

 

 

(c) Rainbow Heirloom

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?

Many Knitted Things

I haven't had much knitting to show you lately, because it's all supposed to be secret!  I've also got to get a move on, because it's all supposed to be out soon.  Since I can't show you exactly what I'm knitting, perhaps I can bleat on about the yarn a little :D  

Above, in glorious orange, is Malabrigo Rios, which is a superwash DK, in colourway 'sunset'.  It's very soft, very shiny, very smooshy.  There's ~190m per skein, and it is listed on Ravelry as a worsted weight yarn.  Currently I'm knitting it on 4mm needles and it's making quite a nice fabric in stockinette.  It's ~£11 per skein so doesn't break the bank, and is 100% superwash merino wool. 

Below is The Knitting Goddess Britsock - it's so soft!  The pattern for this yarn will be appearing around March, so quite a wee wait, but I can promise it'll be worth it (and well worth getting the yarn too...).  This is 400m per skein, made up of 40% BFL, 20% wensleydale, 20% nylon & 20% alpaca.  It's high-twist to make it ideal for socks, and comes in some lovely hand-dyed shades.  It's £15.50 from the Knitting Goddess website, which seems very reasonable for such a yummy hand-dyed skein. 

More even than knitting (shock horror), I've had quite a lot of fun putting the photos together.  There was a post recently on the A Playful Day blog about taking time to enjoy taking photos, which I can definitely agree with!

What have you been knitting lately?

For more sneaky peeks and snippets of yarn I'm currently using, I tend to pop projects onto Ravelry under something conveniently ambiguous such as 'secret socks' or 'coming soon cardigan'. 

At the moment I also have a couple of test knits on the go for an upcoming collection, there's a shawl, cardigan, and two hats.  Do get in touch at owlprintpanda@gmail.com if you'd be interested in any of these:

Hat: 1/2 x skein DK
Hat: 1 x skein Worsted
Shawl: 150g 4-ply
Cardigan: approx. 300-400g DK

Also this week, I've started a postgraduate diploma in Medical Education!  Quite looking forward to being a 'student' again, not least for the 15% discount at Office.  It's a distance learning course from Dundee (though maybe I'll need to find an excuse to make it less 'distance' and pop into Fluph more often).  If you've never been to Fluph, I'd definitely recommend a visit.

We're also ALMOST over the flat-upheaval, and the only person we're waiting on is the tiler!!  The kitchen is done, the new shower is done, I've painted all of the windows and doors and cleaned all of the flat (boy helped yesterday, very much appreciated help).  We'd be tempted to leave the plaster bare but unfortunately it only covers one wall and some choice hole repairs so we'll also have to get choosing some paint!


So what are you up to?  Exciting weekend plans?  Much knitting?  No knitting at all?

 

Talavera; new pattern in PomPom Summer!

 

It's rather exciting - I have a new pattern released, which is published in this quarters PomPom Magazine!  I've always loved this little mag,  & I am guilty of repeatedly flicking through drooling over all the pretty patterns, pictures & articles.

The other evening in the Dumpling Monkey (yes, this is the name of one of our favourite restaurants), we had a lovely evening - each of us having gained something this week, whether small or large, which made us feel a little sense of affirmation about what we're doing.  

Talavera is a lace top, knit in the round on 4mm needles.  Its easy peasy, and a quick, lightweight knit for summer.  I promise: knit in the round to the underarms, knit the front flat, knit the back flat, join the shoulders, knit the collar in the round as you've just knit for the body.  Done.

It's inspired by outdoor summer strolls, by delicate stems & that rich green which only appears in full bloom.  For me, this season is nothing if not time to get a little obsessive over green yarns & gardening.   I live near the river Kelvin, which bypasses both tree museums & artisan pubs, so you'd likely fall in love with it too.

It is often difficult to decide what to knit in summer (do you really need chunky sweaters, right now?), and my go to is always an openwork project.  Given that I wear more lacy tops than shawls, this was bound to happen.  

PomPom is a great publication (with an awesome podcast!).  Set up in 2012 by Lydia & Meghan to fulfil their knitting vision, which they've certainly achieved.  You can read more about them here.  

The yarn, from Kismet, is *beautiful*.  I really can't express how lovely this was to knit with.  Their camel/silk blend was both soft and light, but still hung wonderfully in the garment.  They have lots of great colours, & their studio is incredible!  (They also do some great gradients, which I chatted about before)

Sizes: 1 (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

Finished bust: 88.5 (98.5, 108.5, 118, 128, 138) cm / 35 (38¾, 42¾, 46½, 50½, 54¼)” – to be worn with up to 7.5 cm / 3” positive ease.

Yarn: Kismet Refuge (4ply/Fingering weight; 50% baby camel, 50% silk; 401 m / 438 yds per 100g)
Shade: T-Rex; 2 (2, 2, 2, 3, 3) skeins.

Gauge: 16.5 sts x 28 rows = 10cm / 4” over lace pattern

Needles: 4 mm / US 6 circular needle, 60-80 cm / 24-32” length
4 mm / US 6 circular needle, 40 cm / 16” length for neck and 3-needle cast off
Always use a needle size that will result in the correct gauge after blocking.

Notions: stitch marker, stitch holder or waste yarn

Notes: Talavera is knit from the bottom upwards in the round to the underarms before splitting and working flat. Shoulders are seamed using a 3-needle cast off and the lace pattern is continued in the round for the collar.

For more information, see here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/talavera

Fearlas Mor Socks & Yummy Yarn

  

More socks!!  I have indeed been busy, and these little grey socks are one of my favorite pairs!  You can find the pattern on Ravelry here. 

Knitted in hand-dyed yarn from Sara's Texture Crafts, these socks are toe-up, part slipped stitch pattern, part lace pattern.  

In the Cairngorms, there is a rumour of a Grey Man, a Fearlas Mor, who roams the mountaintops waiting to waylay hopeful climbers. He has been reported as a ‘presence’ rather than a tangible being, and those sensible scientists have thought of a few explanations.

The ‘Broken Spectre’ is apparently a phenomenon which occurs when a break in the clouds allows us to see a reflection of ourselves on the next cloud, often accompanied by a rainbow called a Glory.

Despite this, some still feel the Grey Man is a manifestation of the spirit of the mountain – which is cool, if a little creepy.

As far as the yarn goes, it was yummy!  Hand-dyed by Sara, who guest posted here recently on the merits of being brave with your yarn dyeing adventures. 

I also used the Karbonz knit pro needles for this pair, and they were a delight to knit with.  As I mentioned in the needle review not long ago, they're just lovely and comfortable, and I will definitely be using them again soon. 

If you'd prefer something more summery, Braeriach and Ithunn sock are lovely, green & lacy, knitted in lovely yarn from Ginger Twist & Sylvan Tiger.  

What are you currently knitting?  What's your favourite kind of sock to make?


As you may have noticed a couple of clues to in the first photo, I'm off to Iceland this week!!  Very excited, all the winter warm clothes are looked out & packed, and I'm really upset I don't have time to knit a lovely warm cowl before I go!  One of my definite goals is to buy myself some lopi yarn for an icelandic sweater whilst I'm away.  Have you ever visited?  Can you recommend a yarn shop for me?!