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2016 :: the year of the shawls

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A new year brings all kinds of joy, plans and…. sifting through ALL the yarn! After taking a little time off during the holidays to rest, relax and really spend time figuring out where I want my knit design career to go, I have decided that 2016 will be the year of the SHAWLS!!  I spent 2015 finding my knitting “voice”, researching, learning new techniques (aka BRIOCHE), knitting sweaters and building exciting relationships that I hope will blossom more and more this coming year.  And now, I’m organizing my thoughts (and my yarn) to see how many shawls I can knit this year!

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These shawls are almost equal parts personal designs and those that have been in my knitting queue for months.  Some very special yarn has been set aside for design ideas (from top left, to bottom right) – Baerenwolle, Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light, Manos del Uruguay, Havirland, House of A La Mode, Hedgehog Fibres…..and of course, my current design: using custom hand dyed Fern Fiber Organic Merino wool, and Republic of Wool Twist Fingering.

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More about this design later this winter, when it’s released.

One of my favorite things about being a fiber artist are collaborations, working with indie yarn dyers, yarn shop owners, and other fabulous knitters and designers.  I am very excited about several projects that I will be working on this year and can’t wait to share them all with you!

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Besides shawl designs, I also have a few shawls that others have designed calling to me – like Alluvial Plains, designed by my dear friend, Karen MaCall. The yarn pictured above is destined for that piece of loveliness that I look forward to throwing over my shoulders. From left to right: Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Fragrant, Havirland sock in Toxic Ooze, and Hedgehog Fibres Sock in Graphite. Exploration Station by the amazing and inspiring Stephen West is next, followed closely by Quicksilver, designed by shawl genius Melanie Berg. What shawls are on your MUST KNIT list for this year?

Not pictured are a few of my other favorite yarns: Quince and Co., Infinite Twist, Shepherd’s Wool, The Flying Kettle, Fancy Tiger Crafts Heirloom Romney, La Bien Aimée, and O-Wool.

On top of all this, I still plan to continue learning, knitting sweaters, and playing with new yarn.  Stay tuned for another post about my favorite tools for knitting with this gorgeous yarn!

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Pop Twizzle :: collaboration with Infinite Twist yarns

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Meet Pop Twizzle, an oversized seamless cowl, with a chevron lace edge detail.  This design is an exciting collaboration with Cate from Infinite Twist and was inspired by her beautiful hand dyed yarn.  I am incredibly honored to be a part of her latest Winter collection, Turkish Delight. Cate approached me earlier this year with an idea for a kit collaboration, pairing one of her new yarns, Umbra, with a brioche cowl pattern. Voila, the idea for Pop Twizzle was born!  I wanted to combine the same stitch pattern that I used to design the Pop Fizzle hat, but use it to create a textural, squishy, gigantic cowl, with a scalloped edge detail, created by the brioche chevron lace.

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Let me just talk about her Umbra yarn for a minute.  Wow, it is incredible.  A blend of Camel hair and Nylon, with an almost woven ply, this yarn is probably one of the softest I have ever encountered.  I couldn’t possibly have used any other yarn, it creates the most beautiful brioche fabric, with a density and drape that are quite magical.  Cate dyes this yarn herself, and has put together four delicious color combinations, all of which are compliments of each other.  I knit my sample using Scarlet (the bright red main color) and Badlands (the shadow-like maroon contrast color), and it just shouts HOLIDAYS to me!  I feel like I’m all dressed up, ready to go to a holiday party!

You can find this pattern exclusively as kits for a limited time through Infinite Twist, here!  These super fun kits include everything you need to knit this scrumptious cowl. Included in the kits:

  • Printed original pattern
  • Beautiful hand-dyed Umbra yarn in the quantities needed (1000 yards), your choice of color
  • Bamboo circular needle
  • stitch markers
  • yarn needles (large and small)
  • gauge card
  • two-color pattern marking pencil

Looking for that perfect holiday gift for a knitter in your life?  This kit would be so fabulous!!  The pattern is written for every level of knitter, and it would be a gift that kept on giving.  Or buy the kit for yourself and knit up a fabulous cowl to keep you or a loved one warm for the rest of the winter! Check out my Ravelry page for more information about Pop Twizzle.

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For all of you who are wondering, this pattern will also be available as a PDF download through Ravelry starting on December 26, 2015!

Happy holidays, my friends!

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Early pattern release and Citizens of Textile

Since last June, I have been extremely lucky to feature my fiber work with Citizens of Textile (COT), a very cool online pop-up shop that features different fiber artists every month!  I started with selling some of my hand knits, but realized that this shop is more of a market for yarn, notions pouches, and knitting patterns.  Heather Bostic (@houseofalamode on Instagram) is the creative genius behind COT and House of A La Mode hand dyed and painted yarn, and she is so much fun to work with.  Every month since June, I have been pairing my Condominium cowl pattern with her DK weight yarn as special knitting kits, and this month we have something very special cooked up!

Introducing Scottish Honeymoon, a new knitting pattern that includes His and Her complimenting hats, knit using a custom colorway that Heather and I created together called Winter Plaid.  This yarn really inspired the name of the pattern, and I am so excited to see it come to life. His hat, shown in Winter Plaid Stunning Single DK, is the perfect blank slate to show off a fabulous variegated yarn,  with interesting ribbing and purl ridges to add texture. Her hat, shown in Winter Plaid Freckle Stunning Single DK, was designed to make a speckled yarn shine, with slight ribbing, and purl and stockinette horizontal striping.  Both hats come in two sizes, adult small and large, and use less than one skein of DK weight yarn each!  This is a great first hat pattern for a beginner knitter, or just a fun and interesting knit for you advanced knitters out there.

You can find this pattern, as well as some limited edition kits with Winter Plaid and Winter Plaid Freckle, exclusively at the November COT pop-up shop, starting at 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern time on Friday, November 6 and going through Sunday, November 8, 2015!  These kits will make the perfect holiday gift for that knitter in your acquaintance, or buy the kits / pattern for yourself and create hats for you and your significant other, your mom, your dad, or anyone who will need a warm head this winter!

The pattern will also be released in my Ravelry shop and will be available to download starting on Tuesday, November 10, 2015.

Happy holiday knitting!

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Winter Plaid and Winter Plaid Freckle yarn, hand painted by Heather of House of A La Mode

 

 

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New pattern release :: Taking Turns hats!

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I am so excited to announce my newest knitting pattern release, Taking Turns!  This includes patterns for two different hats – Hat #One is full of texture using one-color brioche syncopating stripes, while Hat #Two creates exciting two-color brioche Alternating Color stripes! Brioche in a light bulky weight yarn creates the squishiest fabric, so grab a skein or two and let’s go!

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These hats were actually a complete experiment for me!  I had been thinking about a new technique with brioche knitting that would create interesting color-changing stripes by switching which color yarn is used in the middle of a row or round.  I started experimenting with this technique using two skeins of beautiful bulky yarn hand-dyed by Melissa of Hey Lady Hey, in colors Scabosia and a custom speckled colorway, Books and Pens.  I was having a lot of fun playing with syncopating and Alternating Color stripes, but the combination of solid and speckles just wasn’t working.  It was too much for one hat pattern!  So I decided to make the Books and Pens SHINE by using it alone in one hat design!  The speckled yarn with the texture the syncopated brioche stripes creates is just magical.

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Of course, this meant that I had to get another skein of the bulky yarn to go with the Scabosia!  So I went for a beautiful contrasting color, Ephemera, which is a bright yellow-green!  Deep eggplant purple with the bright yellow-green was exactly what the Alternating Color stripes needed to really pop.  And it worked!  I am delighted to have sort of UNvented this new technique, and I’m looking forward to creating more brioche designs with it! In case you’re a little intimidated to try a new technique with an already complicated stitch, I did put together a short photo and video tutorial that goes with the pattern.

This pattern is another in my fun collaboration with Andrea Mowry, KNIT in COLOR!  I have so enjoyed working with indie yarn dyers like Melissa and hope that you will check out her gorgeous yarn!!

You can get your copy on Ravelry, and right now I have a special Back To School sale going on!  Use coupon code BACKTOSCHOOL at checkout and receive a 25% discount on ALL Knit Graffiti Designs!! This sale will run from Thursday, October 8 through Sunday, October 11 at midnight Eastern!!

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Pop Fizzle class!

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Hey!!  Are you in the East Lansing / Lansing, Michigan area??  Would you love to learn how to knit this super fun hat?!  I will be teaching a Pop Fizzle! class at Woven Art in East Lansing in October!!  Check out their website for all of the information, but it will be the first 3 weeks in October, and positions are very limited!

In this class, I will be covering ALL aspects of the design, and it is really geared towards intermediate brioche knitters (meaning, if you know how to knit two-color brioche, you will totally be ready for this class).  I am very excited to be teaching these amazing stitches, and to have such a generous local yarn shop to host me!

If you have not yet tried two-color brioche and are just itching to learn, please be sure to check out Nancy Marchant’s amazing website: www.briochestitch.com. From there, you will discover an entire world of brioche that you may never have known existed!  You can take her phenomenal Craftsy class, buy her innovative books, and so so so much more.  She was MY teacher, I actually learned all of these beautiful stitches by knitting her Willow shawl, from her most recent book, Knitting Fresh Brioche.  So knit up a little swatch of two-color brioche, and then go sign up for my class!!!

Happy briocheing, friends!!

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Everything new and exciting!

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Hello, and welcome to the brand new website for Knit Graffiti!

This is a pretty big step for me and I am so excited to finally be sharing it with you!  My website and blog is a work-in-progress, and I hope that it will grow into something more in the coming months.

I have been knitting for a fairly long time, but only in the past year has it become a true source of relaxation, self-expression and a challenge to my creative sensibility.  This intoxicating community of knitters, weavers, yarn dyers, spinners and other fiber enthusiasts is my home away from home.  I am so grateful for all of you.  Thank you.

More coming very soon!