Author: Lesley Robinson

The Handmade Wardrobe.  This is something that has been on my mind, and a goal for myself and my family, for a very long time.  There is something so right about it, knowing where our clothes come from, who made them, and most importantly, feeling good about them.  I always thought this meant that I would be making ALL of my family’s clothes myself!  Well, this brought on a lot of self-made pressure and stress for me, as I am first and foremost, a knitter.  And I do enjoy knitting for my family.  I have some sewing experience, and learned some pattern drafting and sewing while in college.  I can use a sewing machine!  But, sewing garments and clothing is an entirely different animal, and I have great respect to those who do provide a completely handmade wardrobe for themselves and their families!  I am not one of those mommies.  And that’s ok!

So, in comes one of my super talented friends, Kim West [Makes Stuff]! She created modern clothing for children and moms, sewing them together with her two hands, and utilizing patterns created by other sewing mamas!  Shortees, her Etsy shoppe that she’s been running out of her home for 8 years now, is packed full of clothing for kids of all sizes!  My son literally ripped off his shirt and immediately put his new dinosaur shirt on as soon as I took it out of the package!  She’s also recently added this Mom-chic sweatshirt that can double as a nursing top!!  Woah, watch out new moms!!  This is for YOU!!

Yes, I will basically be living in this for the rest of the winter.

If you, like me, would love to have a handmade wardrobe for your family, but lack the time, energy or maybe even skills to sew your own clothing, let’s support other talented people and buy handmade!!

Oh yea!

Happy New Year from Knit Graffiti Designs!

I really just can’t believe it.  It has been nearly one year since I published my first knitting pattern, Pink Graffiti!

This design was born out of a NEED to knit a brioche hat, and I wasn’t finding a pattern that spoke to me or was my style.  I had just started learning brioche knitting with Stephen West’s pattern, Ferocious Briocheous. Little did I know then that it would take over my LIFE!!  Since independently publishing this design, I have published a total of 12 knitting patterns, several of which utilize the brioche stitch!

2015 was quite an amazing year for me, but it was also quite difficult.  At the beginning of the year, I lost my dear grandmother.  I had been close to her for my entire life, and even though we were prepared for her passing, it was extremely saddening. Pink Graffiti was published the same week as her memorial service, and after that, I became obsessed with knitting.  It became my best friend, soothing my grief and comforting me during dark days.  Knitting was my shining light, and knit design made it even more exciting.  I just wanted to learn everything!  I spent my days this year knitting sweaters (4 of them, to be exact!), shawls, hats (so many hats) and also developed some amazing friendships within this fiber community.

This community of knitters, yarn dyers, and other fiber lovers has really helped to make my past year in the knitting world unforgettable.  So, to thank each and every one of you, I would like to have a special offer in my Ravelry shop for the entire month of January!  Buy 2 Knit Graffiti patterns, get any pattern of your choice for FREE!  See my shop page for all the details.

Thank you all so much!!  Here’s to another fabulous year!

Introducing…Pink Madness!!  My newest knitting pattern with KNIT in COLOR is live and available for digital PDF download on Ravelry!  Pink Madness is a statement scarf with a dramatic brioche motif, surrounded by two color garter stitch stripes and two-color brioche borders.  It starts with all two-color brioche, with a few simple increases and decreases, then moves to an interesting two-color garter stitch interior that surrounds the brioche. The main body of the scarf just flies by with mostly garter stitch!

This scarf is knit flat, worked in two halves, then grafted together. This is the perfect pattern to play with color!! I chose these gorgeous pinks that were almost made for each other.  I paired up Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage in color Fragrant (purchased at my LYS Woven Art) with House of A La Mode Dreamy DK in color Zakka.  This is a very special colorway, and if you’re interested in some for yourself, Heather will be dyeing some to be sold with Citizens of Textile early next year!!

I honestly thought of this scarf pattern on a whim.  I had been sketching and swatching for a much larger scale project, and came up with a new design with which I just fell in love.

 I had been playing around with different stitch patterns and this motif was created.  The larger project ended up overwhelming me a bit, and so I put it down, debating whether it would be a practical idea in the end.  But with the brainstorming help of my super talented sister-in-law and the owner of my local yarn shop, the design idea for Pink Madness came to life!

The brioche motif is just as much fun on the other side of the fabric!  I think that’s what I love the most about brioche, and even this combination of brioche and garter: the fabric is completely reversible.   The two halves of the scarf are opposites, as I switched the colors!  This opens up endless possibilities for color combinations! See my Ravelry pattern page for more information!

Celebrate the holiday season with a 25% discount on this pattern, and all other patterns in my shop! Use coupon code HOLIDAY25 at checkout until midnight Eastern time on Monday, December 28! Happy holidays!!