just barely monday

Posted on Posted in designing, projects

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thank you so much for all of your nice comments about the kingston cowl. i am finding my forays in color work very satisfying, so i’m really glad that you are supportive.

because so many of you asked about the other knit pieces sheyanne styled the cowl with, i’ll fill you in on the details of those. the hat is an oldie but goodie, a pattern i designed back in 2008, called high peaks. you might remember it this way, modeled by erica B.

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and knit up in our soft and lofty confection worsted (color nougat). this is a really quick, fun project that looks great on anyone—that’s code for “these are a good choice for the gift box”.

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the pattern includes three sizes to fit men, women, and older children as well as instructions for matching mittens (you can also find the pattern in my ravelry shop).

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the awesome cabled vest was knit in our kent DK (color driftwood) by our friend christine at skeinny dipping (luuuv her yarns!). she used a discontinued (at least, i can’t find it on their site) pattern from bergere de france called debardeur. but don’t despair; looks like they discontinued that pattern so you could knit this for him instead.

ETA: our friend elizabeth was persistent and found the book has been relisted on the bergere website! click here to order

seriously though, you can often find discontinued patterns in swap threads or on ebay pretty easily.

all this talk about hats, mittens, and vests is for a good reason . . .

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honey, it got cold all of a sudden!

and we had our first dusting of snow on wednesday, after a really fine couple of days to begin the week.

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hard to believe this was last sunday, chilly at the start line but absolutely gorgeous later on.

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a perfect day for running my last big race of the year.

monday was just lovely and over 60 degrees, but after that the gray moved in, with ever-lowering temperatures and now it’s truly that time of year.

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as bad as it looks outside, it’s more important than ever to make sure i get out to run or i might start talking myself out of it. it’s SO much easier to stay inside with a cup of hot coffee and some knitting, eh? but also so much easier to STAY in shape rather than have to get back into it later.

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this week i finally finished the slip stitch cowl i started during the after party retreat and it turned out lovely soft in stone soup DK (travertine and river rock).

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i’m calling it glasstower because it reminds me of floating staircases in a glass office building. i ran a lifeline at the top of the hem ribbing in case i decided later to add a cashmere lining, but i decided to forego the lining on this one.

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so into the bath it went immediately after i bound off.

now that the heat is on in the house, everything dries so easily and well, haha. i brought this over the the office at the end of that day, totally forgetting that i needed and FO shot for the blog. oh well—you’ll see the more polished version when the pattern is released.

i spent much of the last few days finalizing my designer notes and page layouts for the november passion club shipment (which we are all eagerly awaiting as i write this).

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with the completion of several recent FOs, it’s time to move some projects up in my queue to active duty. the first thing i want to tackle is a hat for david, based on the boilermaker cowl design.

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about a month ago, he kinda fell in love with the one i knit in neutral tones with a cashmere lining. i asked if he’d like a hat like that and he said yes, so i said, you’re on!

and, he said, with the cashmere lining please.
but of course, said i.

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this time, i’m knitting it in shades of stone soup DK. it will have a nice deep, patterned brim and after that i’m kind of open—i may knit the top really plain or i might just do some additional color work, maybe a fair isle thing, pattern on pattern—as in, more is more.

who knows? well, i know one thing; if i leave it up to david, it will be plain. but i might play around with adding a few snowflakes in a gray-on-gray pattern, just to rock his boat. or maybe i’ll decide it really needs a grandpa’s wool socks feel. i just don’t know for sure yet . . .

while i ruminate on that, i’ve got still other projects i need to get going on. because holy cow, it’s red scarf time again! the drive is already underway to collect scarves for the annual valentine care packages. click here for details about what to knit and where to send it.

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as in past years, i will once again be releasing a new scarf design to raise funds for our knitspot red scarf scholarship. my plan is to have the pattern ready by thanksgiving weekend so we can all knit along during december. it will be a fun, reversible pattern based on the waffle creams design (following a great suggestion from a reader).

and you don’t HAVE to knit it in red; you can make one in any color you like. the point of our participation is to raise scholarship money through pattern and kit sales (details will be outlined on the release date, identical to other years). if in addition, you choose to knit a red scarf to send away to the drive, you get a bonus hug from all of us here.

of course we have plenty of other terrific scarf patterns that would be appropriate for knitting up red scarves if you want to get started right away—some hits from previous years fundraisers include baci, crazy quilt, fall line, cabled keyhole scarf, and matterhorn.

to make this years’s fundraiser and KAL even more fun, we’ve got a special batch of red yarn we’ve been hanging onto since last december, when we had our holiday red, worsted weight festivus yarn spun up for the 2013 FIFC club.

it turned out beautiful, but in the preliminary stages, our test batch was spun in the right color, on the wrong weight, leaving us the proud owners of fifty-three skeins of 2-ply fingering wool in the custom color we named santa suit.

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all the things we love about festivus, but smaller, haha.

since the colorway was exclusive to the club, we decided to save it for a year to release as a fundraiser kit with the 2014 red scarf pattern. are you excited??

we jump-started our 2014 fundraiser with a little silent auction during the rhinebeck after party and our awesome retreat goers ponied up a terrific start to the season’s fun. we are looking ahead to a strong finish at the new year, when we’ll announce the results.

as soon as i finish writing this post, i’m hitting the drafting table to make myself a chart to get started.

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last but not least, we are getting the house ready for christmas and the shop ready for a special holiday event—an open house and yarn tasting (click here or here make your reservation). we found this adorable lemon cypress tree as well as a rosemary tree to bring a little limey green and some wonderful scents to our home and office.

hehe, it reminds me of the bay leaf and lime shawl kits, which i always thought was a wonderfully offbeat holiday green (kinda like the grinch, you know?)! i’ve been wearing mine a lot to bring a little cheer to these gray days.

and speaking of gray, i think it’s time to go knit now.

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(i din’t forget about making the chart; i’m on it!

11 thoughts on “just barely monday

  1. I love love love the mosaic cowl! I have a potholder with the same pattern. I made all of my potholders from 2 mosaic squares back to back and I-cord around the whole thing to hold them together and the hanging loop. They’ve lasted years. I just toss them in the wash when they are dirty and lay them flat to dry. It’s been so long ago, I’m not sure, but think I used a sport weight or thinner. Looking forward to the blanket KAL.

  2. I’m so thrilled you’re doing colorwork more now, it’s my absolute favorite thing! I can’t wait to see the new red scarf design too, I still need to make those socks…

  3. I think vests are my new favorite thing to knit (and wear!).

    Winter is coming on with a vengeance, for sure!

    Love all the cowls – great ideas for gifts. Great to see shots of your kitchen too. What a wonderful space! I wonder if David is going to do a post about the renovation?

  4. Thanks for the good laugh when I clicked “knit this for him instead”. i am trying to knit a vest for my honey because he loves wearing vests.

    Glasstower is one of the most unique colorwork designs I’ve seen in a long time–so creative and visually interesting.

    Burrrrr….if it’s as cold where you are as it is here….maybe it’s time for the gym!

  5. That Glasstower cowl pattern is mesmerising, love it (no surprise, hey?!) Looking forward to the Red Scarf pattern release. They are always wonderful for gift knitting.

  6. I’m so looking forward to the red scarf pattern release. Thanks for the little peek into your newly remodeled kitchen? Was there ever a blog posting of your completed renovations?

  7. The glasstower design reminds me of the pictures you see of hillsides in France and Italy with old houses winding their way up the hill. And I suspect that a cozy cowl would be a welcome accessory in some of those old houses based on tales of the lack of heat I have heard.j

    Now, when is that pattern with the winged socks coming out? ;^)

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