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Free Pattern: Cactus Washcloth
Long ago, when I was thinking about coming up with a few patterns, I was pretty sure the first pattern or 2 I released would feature cacti. Obviously I got distracted by another somewhat prickly thing – the pineapple. But now is the time for these cacti to start making their way into the world. Like the pineapples the pattern of the cactus is achieved through a change in texture. I chose seed stitch to mimic the prickles sticking out from a cactus. The centre of the cactus is centred on the washcloth, but the cactus itself is not symmetrical, as I don’t think there are real cacti out there…
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Trust the Pattern
Don’t Make These Mistakes When Reading a Pattern If you are making something from a pattern just for fun – this post applies to you. There is a major exception to this rule that I will put at the bottom of this post. I am quite deferential to pattern designers when I am knitting. I give them tremendous benefit of the doubt for many things. This is because I assume that they: Have some knowledge Went through their own trial and error process as they designed Had their pattern edited and/or tested Sometimes these are very good assumptions to make. There is so much that I don’t know about knitting,…
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Free Pattern: Pineapple Washcloth 2
This was an exercise in adaptation for me. My original plan for Pineapple Washcloth 2 wasn’t appearing in my knitting as I wanted, so in my notes this is actually Pineapple Washcloth 3… If you don’t succeed, try, try again! Luckily I don’t mind ripping back in flat knitting so much because it’s really obvious where the end of your row is. Scroll down for the FREE pattern or get the printable PDF for $2. So Pineapple Washcloth 2 actually features my FAVOURITE stitch! The body of the pineapple is double seed stitch, I believe it is sometimes also called a moss stitch, either way I just love it! I also…
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Free Pattern: Pineapple Washcloth 1
I love pineapple. I have for a very long time, for many years I asked people who went to Hawaii to bring me back a pineapple. My best friend brought me a pineapple bracelet instead of an actual pineapple and I wore it all the time. Sadly, in the last few years I have become intolerant to fresh pineapple, so I have to get my fix through canned pineapple on pizza and other creative ways. Pineapples seem very “in” right now, even in the fiber arts. However, almost all of the pineapples I’ve seen are crocheted! Since I still have not felt the need to actually learn how to crochet…
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Testing the Vanilla Spice Socks
I did this test knit way back in November, but as I just finished the test sock’s mate, I didn’t feel right writing about it until now! You’ve probably noticed already that I’ve tested a few of Nicole of Woolfield.Studio‘s patterns. She is an amazing designer, especially for socks, and before she even started designing them, she inspired me to try knitting socks again. When the call for testers came out I was already testing her English Garden Reading Socks (which still need the 2nd sock done…), and another sock for a different designer. I had also ordered yarn for Knitatude’s Big Catch Sweater which was open for testing. So…
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Support a Fellow Maker / Take a Break from Designing
If you know me at all, there’s a good chance you’ve heard my thoughts about the volume of patterns being put out by designers. So this post is partially selfish in a desire to spread my beliefs, but also aiming to give some thoughts on how designers can improve. In my perfect world, all designers would have to take a year off from designing, and only make other designers’ patterns (#takeabreaktobebetter). I know that designers have a million ideas in their heads. All those ideas are lined up, just waiting to go either from head or paper to yarn. But I would imagine that sometimes those ideas may be lacking…
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Pattern Testing the Shag Carpet Shorties
These are my favourite socks! This may be a little premature as I see a number of socks in my near future, but still, I love them! When Nicole of Woolfield.Studio asked if anyone wanted to test these beauties I replied within a minute! Especially since I had just bought a skein of DK that would be perfect – not too varigated or multi-coloured to take away from the gorgeous cables. And using the skein right away meant it didn’t stay in my stash too long and get celebrity status so I became to scared to use it. Now regarding the socks: first of all, DK weight socks knit up FAST.…
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Take a Class
If you’ve been following along on Instagram, you know that I just finished taking a class at STASH Lounge here in Calgary to learn how to make thrummed mittens. I first took a knitting class 3 years ago because my mom wanted to take a knitting class with her daughters. So for her birthday we signed up for the Learn to Knit class at STASH. Pretty much all 3 of us knew how to knit, my mom had re-taught me to knit as a teenager after her mom had taught me as a child. But my mom wanted a refresher. Now this is going to sound pretty dramatic, but this class…
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Fibre Fairs
If you saw my Instagram stories, you know last weekend, while much of the knitting world was at Rhinebeck, Calgary was having the fall edition of Fibre Shindig. (P.S. Fibre is the Canadian/French way of spelling fiber). This was the 3rd time I’ve gone, and without question, it’s the most yarn I’ve ever bought at once. BUT, I actually have a plan for all the yarn I got. And because Fibre Fairs are scheduled, you can plan for the spending you may do, and use something like my Yarn Savings Plan. I know the ‘Rhinebeck Sweater’ is a really big deal, but Fibre Fairs in general are a great place…
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My Beginner Raglan Pattern Review & My First KAL
Chantal (Knitatude) came out with this pattern right around the time I was testing the Droplets Sweater for her. So that meant it wouldn’t be making its way onto my needles at that time. If you read my post on Why I Test you know that having deadlines so I can finish a project is one of the reasons I enjoy test knitting. A KAL also gives this motivation, with a little less stress. This one was scheduled for 2 weeks, because it’s a pretty quick knit! Big yarn and big needles mean less time. I started a little late since I was finishing up my test knit of the Marea…
