Ravelympics Day 2: Why I Hate Intarsia

Nothing much to see here... just a neat stack of knitted pink body parts and...

some messy tangly intarsia...

No matter what I do with intarsia it always looks this way! Ive tried bobbins, small lengths of yarn.. everything!

I think the key is to just unravel and untangle at every color change. What a pain!

Cosette

Meet "Cosette", my newest shawl design!

Cosette is a large cozy wrap to keep you warm in cool weather. The curved shape with tapered ends is very versatile and lends itself to being perfectly draped over your shoulders and tied in front. Or for a dressier accent to your outfit you could fasten Cosette with a brooch like I have in the above picture.

But if shawls are not your thing.. Cosette works beautifully wrapped and tied around your neck as a scarf. It would look great under a winter coat with just a little color peeking through.


The yarn that I chose for this design is one of my favorites, madelinetosh. The body is made up of Tosh Merino in Olivia and the border is worked out of Eyre in the Fig colorway.

This beautiful color combination came about my accident.
I had originally ordered these yarns separately for different projects
but was continually fascinated by how well they worked together.
I think that the combination makes for a very rich looking piece.

Also the Tosh Merino is such a wonderfully cozy yarn.
I reviewed it in Episode 30 of my podcast if you would like to find out more about it.


I think that the super soft merino wool paired with the eyelet picot border makes Cosette the perfect balance of functionality and feminine style.


The deep curved shape of the shawl is created by use of short rows.
This is the same technique I used in shaping the Cedar Leaf Shawlette pattern.
Short row shaping is great. I like how it creates shapes invisibly and cleanly.

The pattern contains detailed instruction for the short row technique. But here are two instructional videos that may prove helpful as well. Click HERE and HERE.


Here is some further pattern information for those who are interested in knitting Cosette:

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Length: approx 60 inches from end to end after blocking
Width: measures approx 16.5 inches at deepest point of center including eyelet picot border.

MATERIALS
[MC] Madelinetosh Tosh Merino [100% Merino Wool; 210 yd/192m per 90g skein]; color: Olivia; 3 skeins or approx 500 yds of a worsted weight wool or wool blend.
[CC] Madelinetosh Eyre [60% Merino Wool, 20% Baby Alpaca, 20% Silk; 120 yd/110m per 60g skein]; color: Fig; 1 skein or approx 75 yds of a worsted weight wool or wool blend.

Alternate yarn for [MC] and [CC]: Malabrigo Worsted, Madelinetosh DK, Dream In Color Classy, Lanas Puras Melosa

1# 32” US #8/5mm circular needle
Tapestry needle
Optional: Stitch markers for marking wrapped sts


GAUGE
16 sts/30 rows = 4" in Stockinette stitch on size 8 needles or size needed for accurate gauge.

I hope that you enjoy knitting and wearing it!

Cosette is now available in French! Click HERE to purchase the French version!

(Yarn shop owners: Please contact me about carrying "Cosette" in your shop!)

Ravelympics Day 1: Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe

I'll be casting on for the Ravelympics this evening at 6 pm.

It was hard to figure out which of my daughter's knitted toys to cast on for first...
They are all so cute and tempting. After much deliberation I've decided
to first cast on for a charming little animal friend
that uses this color combination of Rowan Purelife Organic Cotton.

You'll have to wait and see what kind of animal he is!

Coming soon!

A sneak peak of what's coming up!
This is another wrap design that I've been working on in the past month.
It has misbehaved greatly on the needles.. I've had to knit it twice to get the shaping just right.

So get some size 8 needles, and your favorite worsted weight wool ready...
the pattern will be available soon!
Just in time for the ravelympics this year!

Getting Ready For The Ravelympics!

The Winter Olympics is starting soon, and you know what that means...
Its also time for the Ravelympics!

The "Ravelympics" is an event put on by Ravelry.com. The concept of Ravelympics is to challenge yourself by starting and finishing projects during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Choose a project that will be a stretch for you or that will force you to perfect a new technique.
Ravelry.com states, "The goal of the Ravelympics is to support you in expanding your knitting/crocheting horizons.
Just remember the one rule: Challenge yourself!"

The Ravelympics officially begin at 6 pm Pacific Standard Time February 12, as the Opening Ceremonies begin in Vancouver. Now is the time for all of us to pick our projects, enter the events and pick a Ravelympics team.

(Please click here for additional information on how to proceed.)

Please join team Never Not Knitting for the Ravelympics this year!

We have a wonderful, active ravelry group and would love to have you knit along with us. Also there will be a special Ravelympics drawing in the Never Not Knitting group for all of you who complete your Ravelympic project goals.

(Please leave a comment on this ravelry thread to add yourself to our team list.)

Show your support for Team Never Not Knitting and add this button to your blog.

The button is located at:
http://jdakos.com/nnk/Ravelympics_NNK.gif

and then just make it link to:
http://www.ravelry.com/groups/never-not-knitting

As for me....

I've gathered all of my Ravelympics knitting supplies.

My goal is to complete a series of little knitted toys for my daughter AND to share my progress on the blog every day during the Ravelympics!

So be sure to check back often to see my progress. I'm keeping the toy projects secret on the blog for now.. I thought it might be fun for you to guess what they are as I go. :)

The yarns I chose are mostly natural organic fibers in lovely muted tones.I think that this color palette lends itself very well to children's playthings. I cannot wait to get started!

I am desperately trying to finish up my Tea Leaves Cardigan before the Ravelympics begin.I hope to have finished pictures to share in a couple of days! :)

My Little Knitter

When my 4 year old daughter came to me the other day and said
"Mommy I want to knit too. Can you show me how to make stitches?"
I practically melted in my seat.

"Are you kidding me?.. !!!"

I have been waiting for this day.. for well... about 4 years! :)
I've determined that my daughter will love knitting.
She'll have to. I will make her.. or something.

So every few days we've been having "knitting classes" together.
They last about 5 minutes or so...But it is oh so sweet
to watch those little fingers hold the yarn and needles.

I've remembered a little children's knitting rhyme that I heard somewhere to help her remember the steps.

It goes something like this..

"In through the front door. Run around the back. Out through the window and off jumps Jack!"

I can't wait until we can truly knit together. That will be so fun!

New Buttons

I love buttons. They can add so much to a finished piece.

I was recently very excited to find this awesome button selection at Tangled Yarns
and couldn't help but get some for myself!

Both of these buttons are made from coconut shells so they are nice and lightweight.
This is a really good thing because if buttons are too heavy
they can weigh down your sweater or cause the fabric
to fold over on itself if left unbuttoned.

I love the way the cut out buttons look with my Tea Leaves Cardigan!
They are the perfect size too!

Now all I need is a buttonband for them!

Prairie

Yep.

I bought more Madelinetosh. Somebody stop me please...

Squishy Sweaters

This winter I have really enjoyed working on sweaters. But not just any sweaters.. sweaters knit from single ply soft merino wool.
It's my new knitting obsession.

There is nothing like spending a wintry evening inside
with a warm merino sweater on your lap.
There is something so cozy and comforting about the process.

These two in the photo are my Vine Yoke and Tea Leaves Cardigans.
One is knit in Malabrigo Worsted and the other in Tosh Merino.
Two very similar yarns. Equally soft and squishy.

I've been making fine progress.. they are both over halfway completed!
I'm very excited to get them done.. but will miss working on them at the same time.

Thankfully I came across another sweater pattern recently which would make another wonderfully squishy project.
Click here to see. I'm thinking about Tosh Merino in Tart for this one.

Wow. I love yarn.

Side Slip Cloche

Ever since I saw this hat on the cover of the book Boutique Knits
... I knew that I had to have it.
It's just so cute!


Originally this hat was supposed to be for me.
But this color I chose for it ended up being kind of a difficult color for me to wear.

I was trying to pick a pale pink color.. but you know how it goes with shopping online.
I went with the Champagne colorway in Blue Sky Alpacas silk and alpaca blend,
but it turned out that it was much more of a peach tone than pink.

Also the yarn was thinner than I was expecting so I had to double it to get the correct gauge.
The blend worked wonderfully for this pattern though.. the silk gave it the pretty
sheen and drape, and the alpaca added the soft halo which I really love.
2 skeins was just enough to finish the hat.

Even though the hat didn't work out for me.. I think it looks absolutely precious on my soon to be 4 year old daughter.
Kids can wear anything and still look cute!

I just love the feminine vintage style of this cloche and look forward to making myself one out of a different yarn.

I'm thinking a charcoal gray angora blend. I think that would look really classic and cute.

Does anyone have any good yarn suggestions for me?