The Scott Carpet

(Brace yourselves, this is a LONG post.)

While I was visiting my grandmother, I got curious about a piece of woven carpet that she has on her wall. I knew a little bit about it, but everything I knew prompted me to ask more questions!

Hanging on the wall

Thanks Natalie!

I had to be in Ottawa last week for a work event, and I was tweeting from the train on my way up. Natalie Servant, the designer of such patterns as Weeping Willow (from Knitty!), the very pretty Strand of Pearls shawlette, and  her brand new pattern, Shifting Ribs, happened to catch my tweets. She asked if I was going to have any spare time while in the city, and whether I might have any interest in visiting a yarny destination or two. Well, you don’t have to ask me twice! I had already planned to stay over the weekend with my grandmother, so I had a nice chunk of free time available.

Natalie and me at Yarn Forward

Selfish December Knitting

To start off, I should say — admit? declare? — that I did NO knitting for Christmas this year. None at all.

We moved to a new house on December 1, and in the midst of all that chaos, knitting was a welcome respite, but not one I got to indulge in very often, or for very long at a stretch. I gave myself a ‘get out of jail free’ card and knit nothing that had a deadline, nothing that had to please anyone but myself. Don’t get me wrong, I love knitting for others, but no matter how generous the intent, I think most knitters are familiar with that eleventh-hour moment when the project’s not turning out quite right, and you want nothing more than to chuck it in the bin and rain curses down on whoever you’re knitting for!

Anyway, in the month of December, I only managed to knit one thing: a hat for myself.

Ripple hat

It’s the Ripple Hat by Wendy Bernard, done up in bits and pieces of Koigu KPPPM. (Yup, still obsessed with that stuff.) Full details are here. It’s big, slouchy, floppy, and miraculously able to settle on my head without mussing up my (very fine, very prone to mussing) hair.

Oooh, ripply!

I don’t entirely know how much yarn this took, but suffice to say that it used up LOTS. Probably double what a fitted ribbed beanie/toque would take! But it’s a lovely brainless knit, and it was perfect for my December.

One note about the pattern is that the band is knitted in garter stitch, not ribbing, so it’s prone to stretching out, and not to shrinking back in as much. I resolved that by sewing in a polar fleece lining (like a little wee headband inside the hat), but if I’d been thinking ahead, I probably would have just used ribbing in the first place.

That's the garter-y band on the left.

Cameos Your Way

The Chawton Mittens are, I hope, utterly Austen. But they really don’t have to be. Cameos are really trendy these days, whether they feature classic Grecian goddesses or something a little more quirky. There is absolutely nothing saying that you have to knit the Chawton Mittens as designed; you could easily use them as a framework to show off your own allegiances.

Chawton Mittens — Insider Tips

There is one potentially tricky section of the Chawton Mittens: the cameos. Traditional fair-isle patterns avoid long stretches of one colour, specifically because it’s hard to maintain tension when you have long floats of the unused colour strung along behind the work. (Also, those long strands are easily snagged on fingertips, rings, etc.) But with the Chawton Mittens, the cameos are the main design feature, and the whole definition of a silhouette is that it’s just an outline. I had to unvent a technique for dealing with the resulting long strands.

Whoa.

Today, November 8, is the day that Jane Austen Knits was supposed to go on sale on newsstands, shops, etc.

I just got word that instead, today, November 8, is the day that Jane Austen Knits SOLD OUT.*

And today, November 8, is the day Interweave is going back to press to print 5000 more copies.

Just… WHOA.

* Lots of LYSes put out their copies as they received them, or held them by request for specific individuals — like mine did — so they’re already re-ordering. There may still be copies on local shelves, but the publisher is sold out!

Inspiration for Chawton Mittens

So, the magazine is officially out! I can now talk and talk and talk about it as much as I want. (You’ve been warned.)

The call for submissions for Jane Austen Knits came out last fall, and I was immediately captivated; I have an inordinately geeky soft spot for Jane, specifically, and the Regency period in general. I’d only barely dabbled in design, at that point, but I knew I wanted to at least try to design something for this publication.

Random Act of Kindness Day… in cookie form!

It’s Random Act of Kindness Day here in Kitchener-Waterloo (and elsewhere). I brought treats to my coworkers this morning, and lunch to the ladies at my LYS. I can’t bring goodies to all of my (oh so many) readers, though, so I offer this recipe for my grandmother’s chocolate chip raisin cookies so you can make your own.

Dangnabbit

Hey Universe, I wasn’t trying to be prophetic with that last blog post. You didn’t have to go and prove my point again…

Kitchen Sink Dyeworks is another talented indie dyer who’s putting away the dyepots in favour of design and other life priorities. Another dyer whose products I’m tempted to hoard! (Yes, there’s a sale on.)

Yarn shortage?

These seem to be tough days for indie dyers in my neck of the woods.