A Wildflower Wedding

I always feel so honored when knitters choose to knit my patterns. 

There are just so many patterns from so many amazingly talented knitwear designers out there. I am so grateful when one of my designs is chosen from the vast sea of available options.

But nothing is quite so special as when one of my designs is chosen to be knit and worn for one of the most important days in one's life.

A wedding.

I was beyond flattered when Allison Scoon (sticknspokes on Ravelry) contacted me last year to tell me that she would be knitting my Wildflower Cardigan for her upcoming wedding on the Isle of Mull on Scotland's west coast.

What a romantic location.

When she sent me these pictures, I was blown away. 

The cardigan turned out so great and she looks so beautiful in it!

As an avid knitter, it was very important to Allison to have handknits prominently featured in her wedding. 

She knit her husbands tie and kilt hose as well as her two lovely daughter's bridesmaids cardigans. 

Truly a handknit wedding! Every knitter's dream.

I am so grateful to Allison for choosing my cardigan design for her special day and for allowing me to share it her amazing pictures with all of you. 

Congratulations Allison and Malcolm!

Wildflower Cardigan pattern available HERE.

Pictures copyrighted by Allison and Malcolm Ward and ewanbaxterphotography.com

The Never Not Knitting Podcast : Episode 72 : Sweater Surgery

Episode 72

Click HERE to download the mp3 file for episode 72

Shownotes:

Botanical Knits

Argyle Yarn Shop

Loop

Looped Yarn Works

My Swallowtail Shawl

My Gail Shawl

Owl

Sylvan Spirit

Sunshine Yarns Merino Sport

Loft

The Wool Tree

Black Pearl 

The "Sweater Surgery" Sweater Pattern, Vivian

Ysolda on Ravelry

Ysolda's Blog

Strokkur

Orchid Thief Shawlette

Join the Never Not Knitting group on Ravelry

Enter to win these 2 skeins of Black Pearl laceweight yarn from The Yarn Sisters Co. along with Ysolda's Strokkur and Orchid Thief Shawlette patterns by leaving a comment under this post by August 15th. Dont forget to leave your contact information! Only one comment per person please.

The winner will be announced on Episode 73.

Thank you for listening!

Owl

I am still working away over here on my designs for the upcoming sequel... Botanical Knits 2! 

Right now I have the pleasure of working with Quince and Co's new yarn, Owl. Wow. I love it!

It's a 50/50 wool and alpaca blend that is lofty, soft and full of texture all at the same time.
It is amazing to knit with, and the fabric it creates is just lovely.

I am working up a new sweater design that I am really excited about. It has a design feature that I have never seen executed on a sweater before and is one that I feel is very fun to knit.

Thank you for your patience with me as I work hard behind the scenes to get these patterns ready for you. I am super excited about the work I have accomplished thus far.

You will have some more vague progress shots coming your way for awhile.. until I get ready for this collection's big reveal! :)

The Never Not Knitting Podcast : Episode 71 : The Sweater Curse

Episode 71

Click HERE to download the mp3 file for Episode 71

Shownotes:

TNNA

Annie and the Swiss Cheese Scarf

Stitches West

Becoming Art

Cephalopod Yarns

A Verb for Keeping Warm

Spincycle Yarns

Eurosteam Irons

Botanical Knits

Spincycle Yarns design swatch

Uncommon Goods

Birdie Yarn Bowl

Sweater Curse; A Yarn About Love

This is my yarn bowl posing with my skeins of Spincycle Dyed in the Wool yarn.

Enter to win a "birdie yarn bowl" from uncommongoods.com just like mine (yarn not included.. this yarn is all Miiiiinnnee) by leaving a comment under this post by July 15th. Please only one comment per person and do not forget to include your contact information. The winner will be announced in Episode 72.

Thank you for listening! :)

Today's Swatching

You may remember me mentioning this gorgeous yarn I found at Stitches West this past February. This is Spincycle Yarns Dyed in the Wool and its AMAZING.

It has the look of a handspun, but is actually a lovely commercially spun yarn with gradient color changes. 

It is extremely addicting to work with.

Today I have been playing around with this gorgeous yarn for a new leafy design for Botanical Knits 2.

I just want to keep knitting and knitting to see what color is coming next.

Sometimes I Go Places...

With my baby boy getting older, I am now starting to think more seriously about traveling for book signings.

I was honored when one of my stockists, A Yarn Less Raveled, invited me for a Botanical Knits book signing and event in Danville, California. A town right outside of San Francisco.

When I walked into the store, I was overwhelmed by the kindness and support from the store owner, staff and customers. The entire shop was decorated for the event with signage, beautiful displays, and even themed refreshments. I just loved the little details like the autumn leaf cookies and the little knitted leaves scattered about the tables. The shop staff and customers even knitted several items from the book for display in anticipation for the event.

The event itself was a huge success. I met so many wonderful knitters who were so genuinely excited about the collection and my patterns.

I especially enjoyed seeing these ladies again. They refer to themselves as my "#1 fans" and are amazingly enthusiastic.

I really received a VIP experience from this wonderful shop. I couldn't have had a better time. They made me feel so welcome and so special

 I hope to visit this friendly shop again next time I am in the area and I hope you will too.

Secret Sweater In Progress

I'm still working on that sweater-coat design I mentioned previously. Only now it is far less cabled. I had to make a tough decision to edit my design and rip out an entire huge section which was painful for me to say the least. Even though I hated to do it, I feel like the sweater is much more refined and elegant now and I like it so much more than I did previously. It was worth it in the end.

All I have left to figure out is the hood, which I am excited and nervous about. I have never put a hood on one of my sweaters before! 

Although this sweater-coat is a bit plain looking from the front, it has a little "secret something" about it that I think you will love. Stay tuned to find out what it is. This sweater pattern will be appearing in 

Botanical Knits Volume 2!

Tiny

This week, two tiny 25-week twin baby girls were born to friends of ours. 

Only 1.5 pounds each at birth.

I'm glad to hear that so far they are doing well, but this doesn't stop the worry.

I felt compelled to show our friends how much we are thinking of them and their two tiny girls in the best way I know how. Handknits.

I knit up these little preemie hats to help keep them warm in the hospital. Each has their initial embroidered on a fabric heart and appliqued onto the knitted fabric. Each hat only took me... about 'a minute' to make, which further impressed upon my mind how truly tiny these little babies really are.

I hope that these little hats bring this poor family a bit of comfort in what I am only imagining is an extremely stressful and emotional time. 

Icelandic Handknits- Blog Tour Stop

I am so happy to be the last stop on the Icelandic Handknits blog tour and to be able to share this beautiful book with all of you.

 Icelandic Handknits is a collection of knitting patterns inspired by handknitted artifacts from the Textile Museum in Iceland. Each piece perfectly represents the rich culture, history, and knitting heritage that Iceland is known for.

In addition to the patterns, the book contains bits of Icelandic history, a comprehensive section explaining the traditional knitting techniques, and stunning photography that makes me want to hop on a plane headed to Iceland... immediately.

Yes. Please.

There is quite a variety of traditional Icelandic patterns available...

But the ones in particular that caught my eye were this amazing hat...

... and the gorgeous floral design on this blanket.

It is a beautiful book indeed. A wonderful look into Iceland and it's knitting culture.

Click HERE to learn more about the author Helene, this book, and Icelandic knitting. 

(And.. be sure to visit this page to learn about her upcoming tour of the textile museum!)

Icelandic Handknits is available in bookstores worldwide or on Amazon, but

leave a comment below by June 1 to enter to win a copy of your very own! :)

Please remember to include your contact information so that I can get in touch if you have been selected as the winner. Only one comment per person please. 

Drawing Now Closed. Winner is "bowie" on Ravelry. Congratulations! :)

Botanical Knits Has Arrived!

Just yesterday, a big truck pulled up outside of our office and dropped off 10 huge pallets of Botanical Knits books. 

As I looked at the shipment in its entirety I was super excited of course, but honestly also a bit afraid.

"Uh oh.. what have I gotten myself into?"

I have never before ordered this quantity of books before, and the sheer amount of them was quite daunting.

Fortunately within a few hours, with the help of friends and family, we were able to fill up all of the spare corners of our office space and get the entire shipment inside.

Now is the fun part. I have been enjoying packaging up each little book and getting it ready to put in the mail to all of you who have pre-ordered. For each package I put together, I think about the knitter who will be receiving it. I hope that you all really enjoy it. :)

It's going to take us awhile to package up all of these orders, so I am going to extend the pre-order promotion a little while longer. Everyone who places their order through May 15th will receive the digital version of Botanical Knits along with the special pre-order extras.

Click HERE to place your order.

Thanks again everyone! :)