Category Archives: Patterns

Nautical Knitter Designs

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Secret of the Stole II: Savannah and Charleston

It is with great pleasure that we are able to announce the release of our two newest stole patterns, Savannah and Charleston.

Secret of the Stole II

The Secret of the Stole II KAL has officially come to a close and we are excited to have the patterns finally compiled into a downloadable format. Why two patterns? While knitting through this knit a long, we realized that one thing that is different about our stole patterns is their shape. They are all differently shaped than each other and than any other stole patterns we can find out there.

We wanted to develop this into a design element of our stoles and about halfway through the first stole, Charleston, the creative muse struck and Savannah was born. Luckily we have a very quick test knitter working with us and we were able to create both stoles in time for the photo shoot. Here are the shapes of the three Secret of the Stole stoles we have developed so far (see bottom of post).

Patterns are Now Available for Sale

This has been such a great KAL group, you all should be very proud of how helpful and courteous everyone was, and above all, how great all your work looks. As often is the case, once I have worked 9 weeks on something like this, I do offer it for sale as well. Both pattern designs are now available for sale on the patterns page.

Please Help Support Your Designer

Each pattern is available for $7.00 each and will include completed photos, full completed charts, and directions for completing the stole, and of course all the chart files in one single download file. We hope you have enjoyed the group over the last few months as much as we have. If you have, please, consider supporting your designer by buying the pattern. I have enjoyed this group tremendously, and I also put 100′s of hours of work into the pattern, running the group, and organizing all the door prizes for everyone. Each designer is different but I know I spend, in total, about 200-300 hours on each KAL.

Although it is a hobby, it also my business, and I would love to be able to continue these type of KAL’s for a long time to come, but I do need the support of my group members! Typically there is a core group of members that purchase the pattern each time. How many are in this elite group? Well, it is usually runs about 3%-5% of the total group list.

It is because of these people that we can continue to do the KAL’s and offer all the great door prizes, so THANKS SO MUCH. It you would like to purchase the pattern, please just visit our pattern page. Thanks again.

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Does a Knit-a-long Teach Us Anything?

The Secret of the Stole II KAL (knit a long) is coming to a close this week and after nine weeks of receiving bits and pieces of the pattern, the members finally have the final chart to complete their lace stoles. One of the questions most asked is “Why, do you do it?”.

Why Designer’s Like Knit-a-long’s

For me, the designer, there are several reasons. The knit a long format gives me a way to try out new designs and new concepts in knitting techniques. Even though my designs are test knitted prior to the knit a long, when it begins I have access to a couple of thousand test knitters, all at varying skill levels to help me make my patterns even better.

Have You Made Any New Friends

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Was that me I just passed in the hallway? Why yes, I think it was…

One thing I love about traveling is the ability to procrastinate for a valid reason. You see, I have been able, for the past three weeks or so, to put off doing many of the things I needed to do at home, because I was not “at home”. Ahh, but it always catches up with me and here I am swamped to the gills again. Somehow, it feels natural to me though. I am not sure it would be normal to not have “too much to do”.

I received a wonderful swap package from my friend Kimberly in Berlin. Here is the booty.

Swap with Kimberly from Berlin

What a wonderful swap partner! She sent me wonderful sock yarn in two yummy colors, a German knitting/crochet magazine, and loads of little goodies, including a sheep cookie cutter. The cream of the swap, however, was the rare as gold skein of Wollmeise yarn and the truly thoughtful double point knitting needle case that she made for me! I also especially liked the stitch markers she and Alida, her daughter, made for me. I put the needle case to use right away. I filled it with all the double points I could find in my office and then rolled it up, tied it with the pretty black velvet ribbon, and put it away. Man, what a wonderful gift! I was going crazy with my double points all over the place and not having enough time to make myself one of these wonderful organizers. Thanks Kimberly, et al!

Double Point Needle Case

We have been so busy lately with traveling and the Secret of the Stole II KAL (and our day jobs) that it has been impossible to find time to do much of anything else. I did manage to finish one of the sleeves for my father’s costume while we were on the boat last weekend. This sleeve will be attached to the tuxedo shirt that I took the sleeves off of a while back. It will be gathered at the shoulder and the scalloped edge you see at the bottom will be finished off with black satin stitch. Hopefully all will go well with this project and I can move on to my skirt and all the vests I have to make. Look for lots of posts on the progress of the costumes coming up, because the festival is at the end of May and there is so much to do still.

Dad's Sleeve Finished Another finished project is my Secret of the Stole II. About half way through the Secret of the Stole II KAL, I decided to redesign the shape of the stole. This meant, that I needed to chart the changes, keep up with putting them on the group site every week, and knit an entirely new stole to reflect the new pattern design. I have been knitting like a madwoman (hence the lack of blog posts) to get the revised stole completed before everyone else and so that we can go do a photo shoot for the pattern cover this weekend. I am happy to report that as of today the revised shape stole pattern has been completed and blocked.

The original stole yarn requirements were lace weight yarn and size 3 needles. When I decided to knit the new version of the pattern I wanted a larger, thicker, warmer stole so I went with dk weight yarn and size 5 needles. The stole blocked out to 93″ x 24″. It is alpaca and luscious. This one is all mine!!!

The original pattern will be sold under a different name and will be similar to this one, but the shape is different. Right now, (until March 21) we have both patterns for pre-purchase on the Knitwith.us web site for $10. After March 21 the price for the patterns will be $7 each. If you would like to pre-purchase, the links to both patterns will be sent to you on March 21, 2008.

SOTSII-blocking

I mentioned that we were on the boat last weekend. It was so pretty when we arrived that Mr. K was able to pressure wash the boat while I sat on the dock and knitted. Right about the time he completed pressure washing and began peeling the vinyl letters off the side and stern of the boat (we are changing the name of her to Island Zephyr) the wind began picking up. By the time he was finished with the last letter the weather radio was reporting gale warnings for the next 24 hours. They weren’t kidding! We slept on a rockin and rollin boat that night. It was really pretty cool!

The next day when the seas subsided, we had two very special visitors into the very narrow channel of the marina. We think they chased schools of fish into the channel and had a feast. Afterwards, as they were leaving, we believe they were mating! Too cool!

Name Change

Gale Warning

Dolphins

Well, that is about all I can think of to tell you guys right now. More frequent posting should be on the way since the knit a long is just about over. As if there isn’t enough to keep us all busy and just in case you didn’t know already, Spring Knitty is up…..

Fair Winds, D

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Working the Charted “No Stitch”

Why are “no stitches” charted? The answer to this, basically, is that if you are reading from a chart and you are also “reading” your knitting as you go, you want things to line up properly. Ok, so why doesn’t the chart reduce in size from the outside like my knitting does? The answer is that your knitting is not really decreasing from the outside edges. But, rather, it is reducing from where there is a decrease without a corresponding increase. Let me try to demonstrate. Below are two sample charts.

The first is a chart drawn without the “no stitches” charted.

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Tinking + Lurping + Frogging = Experience

We are currently in the middle of the Secret of the Stole II knit a long and it occurred to me how many folks are at some point or another working backwards. Are you familiar with the terms in the title of this post? If you are, then you are well on your way to becoming an experienced knitter.

How many times have you come to the end of the row and realized that you don’t have enough stitches on the needle to complete the row? We all have. The question is, what do we do about it? Do we tink, un-knit one stitch at a time, or lurp, un-purl one stitch at a time, the row? Or, do we frog the entire row or even the entire project? Frogging is a term knitter’s use for “ripping” back a project to a certain point and knitting again. It is called Frogging because the yarn, when pulled out of the loops makes a “rib-bet” sound.

One thing I have noticed over the years, is that the knitters that get the most frustrated with having to fix an error in their knitting by using one of these methods are usually in a hurry, lacking confidence, or inexperienced. Let’s look at these three aspects.

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How To Use Stitch Markers in Knitting

We are please to have back a great knitting podcaster, Ivy Reisner of Ivy’s Vine and Knit Spirit. In this episode she explains some quick tips and uses of stitch markers. To listen just click the play button below, and please be sure to visit her blog as well. Thanks and enjoy.

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Secret of the Stole II Swatch Video, Part 2

This is the second in a two part series of videos showing the necessary stitches needed to knit the Secret of the Stole II swatch and subsequently the Stole as well. In this second video we tackle two more difficult stitches, the s1k2psso and the k3tog. We focus on row 19 of the swatch chart and work through the sequence several times to give you a good look how to work the stitches mentioned above.

The chart we are using in this video can be found in the files section of the Secret of the Stole II KAL yahoo group. This group is currently closed for new membership, but will reopen on March 21, 2008 for new members. The swatch chart will continue to be available on the site after that time.

Enjoy, DK

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Job posting: Clone needed

Bellcurve BeautySince I (like everyone else I know on the planet, it seems) have way more to do than is physically possible right now, does anyone out there have a free moment that they could just whip this out for me? HAHA

Seriously, black would be preferable and perhaps a little longer length….

Just kidding. Winter 2007 Knitty surprise is up. There are three offerings this time and this one is in my queue!

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Save Your Knitting with Lifelines

In the sailing community, the use of lifelines is well known. They are the lines that run around the sides of the boat, topside, that can keep you from falling into the water. Using lifelines in your knitting can also keep you from the water. The water in the dreaded “frog pond”.

Lifelines

Lifelines in knitting are basically “lines” of thread, dental floss or some other string or yarn, that are threaded through you knitting on any given row. This line is left in your knitted piece at least until you make some further progress and insert another line.

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The History of Lace Knitting Podcast

As we develop this site for knitting we have tried to gather a collection of video and audio podcasts that would be the most useful for our knitting members, and hopefully pertains to some of the KAL’s that are currently in progress.

We are please to have our first guest podcaster, Ivy Reisner of Ivy’s Vine and Knit Spirit, that explains the wonderful history of lace knitting. To listen just click the play button below, and please be sure to visit her blog as well. Thanks and enjoy.