F.O. Chevron Baby Blanket by Espace Tricot

Pattern:  Chevron Baby Blanket

Designer: Espace Tricot

Yarn: Blue Sky Fibers Worsted Cotton
Colourway: White, True Red, Graphite (1.5 skeins), Pink Parfait

Needles:   5.5mm

Ravelry: my notes

Added Notes:

1.  I decided to use up some stash yarn to knit this baby blanket while I was on a recent road trip.  It was an easy, enjoyable pattern to follow and it grew quickly, due to the worsted weight yarn.  I am not a fan of knitting with cotton, but I have to admit that the finished project is perfect for a baby blanket.  I was impressed with the quality of the Blue Sky Fibers Worsted Cotton.

2.   I decided to use the Random Stripe Generator to pick a unique combination of stripes. Following the suggested combination added more fun to the project.

3.  I got four chevron sections from each skein.  I had to go into a second skein of the gray as I added a fifth chevron section for that colour.  

4.  This pattern is found the Espace Tricot Website as a free pattern.  They have quite a collection of free patterns.  I had forgotten how many free patterns they offer.  Definitely worth a check.

There are so many pretty baby blankets published on Ravelry.  The next time I need to make a baby gift I would like to knit Fly Away by Tin Can Knits.  There are so many beautiful versions.  Do you have a favourite baby blanket you would recommend?

Woolercoaster's Wonderful World of Knitting: Augst 19-25

Thanks for joining me this week.  I really enjoy researching what's new in the knitting world and I hope you find it interesting too.  Let's get to it:

Pattern Deals:
Is there a baby knit in your future?  Look no further than Little French Knits.   Florence Merlin is the designer behind these sweet patterns.  Check them out here.  If you visit the Knitionary blog, a discount code is provided for 50% off these designs, until the end of August.

On the Yarn Radar:
I am in love with this new Gauge Dyeworks colourway.  Isn't it gorgeous?  You can see it knit up in different patterns here.  I especially like this shawl.  If you like it as much as me, head on over to sign up for the Gauge Dyeworks newsletter so that you will be alerted as to when it is available for purchase.

Hot Patterns:
1.  I have a soft spot for Canadian designers and Sylvia McFadden of Softsweater knits is one of my favourites.  I have knit two of her patterns (Lanterns and The Elder Tree Shawl) and, of course, there is the very popular Waiting For Rain shawl that is in my queue.  Her newest collection, published this week, is called Eclipse consisting of three gorgeous pi shawls.

The Sun
©Sylvia McFadden

The Moon
©Sylvia McFadden

Late August
©Sylvia McFadden

2. Have you seen a very popular pattern called Sunset Highway by Caitlin Hunter?  This fingering weight colourwork sweater is unique because the sample is knit with indie dyed speckled yarn.  Check out some of the completed projects to see the many gorgeous colour combinations that have been completed.

3.  Spice, a  new collection by Quince and Co. has been published this week as well.  I am a big fan of  Quince and Co. yarn and I admire their commitment to publishing new designs.  This newest collection contains two sweaters, two shawls and a cardigan, by such designers as Michele Wang, Leah B. Thibault and Elizabeth Smith.

Dal by Leah B. Thibault
©Quince & Co.

Masala Shawl by Michele Wang
©Quince & Co.

Massaman by Elizabeth Smith
©Quince & Co.

4.  And finally, as soon as I get my current socks off the needles, I am casting on the NoShow Socks stashbusting pattern by La Maison Rililie blogged about here.  These socks are designed to be lower cut, and therefore, perfect for hiding under a pair of shoes. I am really looking forward to knitting this unique design.

Tip of the Week:
If you have the time, a great habit is to check Ravelry daily as often designers offer a new pattern either at a discount, or for free for a window of time.  I have been able to pick up many patterns this way.  There are plenty of patterns that are also offered free for an unlimited time.  For example, check out Island Wildflower, a beautiful crochet blanket.  It would be a great stashbuster.  I also loved Ninni  (a fingering weight lace cardigan) and Tiliana a huge fingering weight shawl by Hannah Maciejewska designer of the popular Moyen Age. 

That ends my round up for this week.  Did I miss anything that caught your attention?  I encourage you to add your favourites from the week to the comment section below.  Have a great week.

F.O. Goode by Julie Hoover

Let me share with you the facts about a sweater I knit over several months that I have a terrible feeling I am going to rip out.

Pattern:  Goode

Designer:  Julie Hoover

Yarn: Purl Soho Linen Quill (50% wool, 35% alpaca, 15% linen)  4 skeins

Purl Soho Linen Quill

Colourway: Oatmeal Gray

Goode

Needles:   3.25 mm

Ravelry:  Link

Added Notes:

1. The Yarn:  One of the things I absolutely love about knitting is trying new yarn, especially with a combination of fibers that I have never knit with before. I first heard about Purl Soho's Linen Quill through Karen Templer's Fringe Association blog. She knit a gorgeous cardigan using two strands of this yarn. See it here. Her rave review of this yarn interested me enough to pick up a few skeins on a visit to New York. The fabric this yarn creates is lovely. Light and wooly with a slight halo, I would highly recommend it.  It is listed as a fingering weight yarn but I thought it was more of a light fingering.  

2.  The Pattern:  Julie Hoover's pattern, Goode, was well written and easy to follow.  Front and back were knitted separately, bottom up, and then the two pieces were seamed together.  The last step was to knit the ribbing around the sleeves. That's it. Simple. 

3.  The Problem: The modelled sweater has an ease of 7" and I chose the same ease when picking my size.  I don't know if I picked the incorrect size, the wrong style of sweater for my shape, or my swatch lied to me, but this sweater is huge on me, even the sleeves fall below my elbows.  Maybe if I was six feet tall this sweater could work.  But I am not that tall!   Right now it is sitting in my time out bag, awaiting it's fate.  You would think that after years of knitting I would have figured out that this sweater wasn't going to work for me a little earlier on.  At times like these I think that top down sweaters might be the way to go...you can try them on as you knit.  Sadly, I think I will be frogging it.  The yarn is way too nice to waste.

If this was my first sweater I had ever knit I would be devastated at the thought of frogging it.  However, I have made enough sweaters over the years that it does not bother me as much.  What's a knitter to do?  Pick some other yarn and cast on a new sweater of course!

Happy knitting.

Woolercoaster's Wonderful World of Wool August 12-18

Things were a little quieter on the knitting front this week.  But there were a few new items that caught my attention.

1.  Birds of a Feather shawl pattern by Andrea Mowry, originally published in Laine Magazine, Issue 2, is now available for individual purchase.  This shawl is a gorgeous knit using two skeins of yarn.  In the sample, Hedgehog Skinny Singles is combined with Hedgehog Fibres Kidsilk Lace, a luscious 70% mohair 30% silk yarn blend.  Check out the finished projects on Ravelry as there are already so many beautiful versions.  This shawl is definitely going into my knitting queue.

An Isabell Kraemer sweater from this same publication is also available for purchase.  Sibeal, a light fingering weight sweater knit from the top down is one of those comfortable sweater patterns we expect from this designer.

2.  I don't know about you, but I watch more podcasts on YouTube these days than I do t.v.  I especially love watching knitting podcasts as there are so many excellent ones to choose from.  One of the newer ones I love is the Yarn Pimp Podcast, hosted by owner Karen Posniak of Do Ewe Knit? a yarn store in New Jersey.  She is joined by the bubbly Danielle Guinta.  Past podcasts include a visit to the Hedgehog Fibres headquarters, and interviews with guests such as Stephen West, kristyglassknits, and Kristen Lehrer of Voolenvine Knits.  The latest episode is here.  Karen Posniak is a big supporter of indie dyers and carries a variety of brands.

Another one of my favourite podcasts is  the Grocery Girls, two Canadian knitters from Edmonton, Alberta. If you haven't had the pleasure of watching them yet check out their latest episode here.

3.  I love a sale and here is a good one:  designer Ambah O'Brien is taking 50% off one her patterns for 24 hours each day this month.  Check out her Instagram feed daily to see the design that is being discounted.  Her patterns are well written and very wearable.  I was so happy to be able to buy the Xandra Wrap, her newest publication at the reduced price. 

Here's another deal:  Hilary Smith Callis has just published Aeque, a very pretty gradient cowl pattern, that blends together five colours of fingering weight yarn. Perfect for those leftovers.   The deal is that if you purchase this pattern you can also buy any of her shawl or cowl patterns for 50% off.  Hurry, this offer ends midnight August 19th (Pacific time).

I am adding another new feature this week to my blog:

Tip of the Week:

Random stripe generator:  I  am currently working on a baby blanket using four different colours of yarn.  I was trying to decide how to effectively place the stripes when I remembered this website which generates a striping pattern for your selected colours.  I decided on this pattern:

My stripe pattern

The neat thing about this website is if you don't like the suggested combination of stripes you can refresh the page until you are happy.  

The pattern I am knitting with this combination of stripes is called the Chevron Baby Blanket, a free pattern by Espace Tricot.  This is my first time knitting with Blue Sky Fibers Worsted Cotton.  I am not a huge fan of knitting with cotton but I have to admit that I am happy with how this blanket is turning out.

Chevron Baby Blanket

I hope you enjoyed this new addition to Woolercoaster's Wonderful World of Wool. (My son thought of that title and I am going with it.  LOL)   Here's hoping you have a happy and relaxing weekend.

Woolercoaster's Wonderful World of Wool: August 5-11

Today I am trying something new on my blog which I hope you enjoy.  I have highlighted a few patterns, KALs and yarn that have caught my attention this week in the knitting world.   

Week of August 6-12

1. Thea Colman (Baby Cocktails) came out with a new hat pattern called the Boston Flip.  This hat was designed as a gift to her daughter, and her daughter's best friend, as they go off to college this fall.  The explanation for the hat's design was incredibly sweet.  Read all about it on her blog. 

2.  Joji Locatelli has come out with two new patterns this week:  the Longline Cardigan and the Bobble Cowl.  Both patterns are knit in Malabrigo Mechita which is a fingering weight yarn.  She is offering 20% off all her patterns from August 10-20 using the code jojifallkal.   This sale is in anticipation of her Knit Along starting September 1 running until December 10th.  More information can be found here.

3.  Carol Feller, another prolific designer, has come out on Instagram and on her website with a new sweater design called the Camira Cardigan which will go on pre-sale on August 19th.  The first clue will be released October 7th. This is one KAL I am considering participating in.  I think this pattern will be very interesting to knit.  I participated in a previous Carol Feller KAL and knit a sweater called Capall Dubh which I absolutely love.  More information is to follow.

4.  Another sweater pattern that caught my attention was Fresh by Josée Paquin. This sweater would be a great stashbuster and would be a fun knit.   Josée uses Julie Asselin Fino fingering yarn combined with a Julie Asselin's Leizu Fingering Gradient Set.  Love it.

5.  A new publication entitled Plum Dandi Knits:  Simple Designs for Luxury Yarns by Melissa Schaschwary and Alicia Plummer is available for preorder on Amazon.  It is being published November 30, 2017 by Interweave and I am sure it will have many beautiful designs.

6.  And finally, I know I don't have to tell you about Andrea Mowry's newest pattern and Mystery Knit Fade Along called What the Fade?! starting August 31st.  However, what you might not know is Hedgehog Fibres is having another Colour Sets sale on August 12th where you can purchase a six skein set directly from the extremely popular dyer to use for this pattern.   (One can dream.)

That's my round-up for today.  I had fun compiling it and please feel free to add any other items that you are excited about in the Comments section below.

Now I can't leave you without any yarn pictures.  How about a few shots of some of my recent purchases?  Although I will not be joining in the Mystery Knit Fade Along I do enjoy a skein of speckled yarn.  There are so many beautiful ones to choose from...it's mind boggling.   Here are a few of my faves:

Primrose Yarn Adelaide:  In Between the Lines

Hedgehog Fibres Skinny Singles:  Bubble & Bounce

  

Life in the Long Grass (LITLG) Fine Sock:  Shack

Hedgehog Fibres Skinny Singles:  Poppy

What am I going to do with these skeins you ask?  I am not sure, but with these colourways I am going to have fun figuring it out.  

Happy weekend everyone!

F.O. Lanterns by Sylvia McFadden

It was just last summer that I had the opportunity to visit 88 Stitches, the sweetest yarn shop in Langley, B.C.  Much to my utter delight the pieces designed by Sylvia McFadden of Softsweater Knits were on display.  Previous to visiting 88 Stitches I was a big fan of Sylvia McFadden's patterns on Ravelry. But when I saw her creations in person I was in love. I knew I had to knit one.  (You can see the photos I took that day here if you are interested.)  

Pattern:  Lanterns

Designer:  Sylvia McFadden (Softsweater Knits)

Yarn:   Sweet Fiber Yarns Cashmere DK (100% cashmere) 4 skeins

Colourway: Spiced Pumpkin

Needles:   4.0mm
Ravelry:  Link

Pre-blocking

Added Notes:
1.  This is the first time I have knit with 100% cashmere. It is incredibly soft, but what struck me is that there was not much give to the yarn.  The pattern called for fingering weight yarn but I wanted a heavier shawl and chose a DK weight.  I used almost all of the four skeins I had.  When I cast off I was disappointed with how small the shawl was (52 x 17") and never having blocked cashmere before I wasn't sure what to expect.  What happened was magical. The lace just opened up and the shawl grew to the perfect size (68 x 32").

2.  The designer gives you the choice to do either a twisted version or a regularly knit version.  I chose the twisted version and I am glad I did.

2.  This is not the first pattern I have knit by this designer.  Check out The Elder Tree Shawl as well. (Blogged here).  I highly recommend her patterns.  They are easy to follow and the results are beautiful.