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Why yes, it has been an incredibly long time since I last blogged – but I assure you that there is a very happy reason for my long sabbatical!
Before we talk about that, though, let me share with you my latest pattern, published today in the Spring 2011 issue of Twist Collective…
…Meet Madrigal – available here at Twist Collective today:
Madrigal is a lovely, lightweight, all-season cardigan with VanDyke lace panels on the fronts and on its set-in three-quarter sleeves.
A breeze to knit that takes shockingly little yarn, Madrigal is knit entirely seamlessly in one piece, from the top down, and includes instructions on customizing length of body and sleeves to fit.
Available in bust sizes from 32 ½” to 59″, and worn with 1-5″ positive ease, it will fit a wide variety of body types with grace and aplomb… and take you from spring to summer to fall with style. It was so much fun to design – and I think you’ll enjoy making it, too!
 All photos of Madrigal by Jane Heller for Twist Collective.
You can buy Madrigal for $7.00 by visiting the Twist Collective site here. Shop around while you’re there – this issue has some truly lovely designs, and I’m so glad to have gotten to be a part of it!
As for my long hiatus… here’s a (not so) little hint as to what I’ve been cooking up:
…more exciting news about that very soon! (I promise – there isn’t much time left to tell you about it!)
Wow, it’s been a long time and there’s lots of catching up to do – but let me first start by saying that I’m thrilled to have a new pattern in the Spring 2010 issue of Twist Collective!
Meet Tanis:
Tanis is a faux-wrap pullover with a thick braided cable adorning the neckline, bracelet-length sleeves, and cuffs:
It’s a joy to be in such a great issue, with so many wonderful designs in it – some of my favorites include Azami by Carol Feller – a hooded henley with a beautiful lacy hood, Sally Rand by Grace Anna Farrow – an ethereal shawl that looks like branching coral; the gorgeous Timpani by my friend Connie Chang Chinchio, with its beautiful cabled details; the wondrously simple Cecchetti by the lovely Marnie MacLean; and Lena, the perfect show-off for a hand-dyed yarn, by my dearest pal Mercedes Tarasovich Clark.
So it’s a thrill to have the pattern up and finally visible to the world! If you’re new here, welcome, and please have a look around – you can see all of my patterns here on my Ravelry page. And I promise I’ll be more active blogging in the weeks to come. :)
First off, I want to thank everyone who has purchased my patterns as a fundraiser for Haiti this month. Your incredible generosity has helped me to raise over $475 so far this month for Doctors Without Borders! If you haven’t yet had a chance to purchase one of these patterns, you can buy them from my Ravelry page or click here for Harlow and here for Bob the Dog. 50% of every purchase between now and January 31 goes directly to Haitian relief efforts by Doctors Without Borders. (Check out the Ravelry Help for Haiti page to browse patterns by dozens and dozens of designers who are donating a portion of their pattern sales this month to Haitian relief.)
In addition, I have something exciting to tell you: the Completely Pointless and Arbitrary Swap Group on Ravelry is holding an auction to benefit Haiti that’s raised over $19,000 selling precious skeins of Wollmeise and Bugga and other goodies… and in partnership with The Fibre Company, I’m offering a very special prize that will be auctioned off tonight! The winner of this prize will receive:
- a completely personalized copy of Harlow, extensively custom-fit to flatter their exact figure, and
- a pack of the Fibre Company’s amazing yarn Road to China Light to complete the sweater in their size, in their choice of seven gorgeous colors!
It’s extraordinarily generous of The Fibre Company to donate this gorgeous, gorgeous yarn, which alone has a value of $200 – $300… and what better way to use it than to make your own custom-fit Harlow? Just look at the luscious colors you’ll be able to choose from:
The yarn is made of 65% baby alpaca, 10% camel, 10% cashmere, and 15% silk – but it’s so very soft you’ll swear it’s made out of kittens. If you’re not familiar with them, the Fibre Company is one of the absolutely highest quality yarn outfits out there – you’ll be very pleased! And just think how lovely your Harlow would look in this yarn:
…I’ll even throw in a signed copy of Vintage Baby Knits for good measure. It’s a prize you don’t want to miss out on – and it’s for a really good cause!
This prize package will be auctioned off tonight, between 7 and 10 pm EST, here on Ravelry in the CPaAS group’s relief auction for Haiti thread. (updated with link to auction!) You can bid by replying to this post in the thread – so be sure not to miss it!
Again, hugely special thanks to The Fibre Company! Be sure to check out ALL their fabulous yarns, and if you have a chance, thank them for their generosity to Haitian relief!
I’m awakening from my long internet slumber to ask your help. As I’m sure you all know, Haiti was hit with a devastating earthquake that has done the worst damage imaginable. As many as three million people are in desperate need of immediate assistance – and while aid is pouring in from around the world, absolutely every penny counts. So please donate whatever you can to the relief efforts in Haiti today. At the end of this post, there’s a list of just some of the organizations that are doing relief work after the earthquake right now – pick one, and fork over some dough if you haven’t already (or even if you have.) Your donations will help save lives.
To do some tiny part to help the effort, through the end of January, I’m donating 50% of all sales for my Harlow sweater pattern and Bob the Dog toy pattern directly to Haitian relief efforts:
 
You can buy Harlow by clicking here and Bob by clicking here, or you can visit my Ravelry store – and half of every dollar I earn on those patterns this month will go directly to help Haitians in need. I’m thrilled to say that already I’ve been able to donate $40 to Doctors Without Borders just this morning, directly due to the generosity of knitters like you.
I’m proud to be in the company of a growing number of other knitwear designers and Etsy store owners on Ravelry who are donating part of their sales to Haitian relief:
- LadyBright joined in to contribute 15% of the sales from her etsy store, Delshire Woods.
- LanieRed is contributing 50% of the profits from her amazing skin care products at her store, Paradoxicality for the rest of the month.
- DurableDora is donating profits from all the fabulous items from her Zazzle store.
- Niseema is donating 25% of her yarn club’s fees for the next 24 hours.
- Eudyptula is donating half the pattern sales from the calm waters cowl for January.
- CyberFiber is donating 100% of January sales from her etsy shop uglyshmugly.
- Stitchy McYarnpants is donating 50% of January sales from her etsy shop.
…If you know of more, let me know and I’ll update the list! Most of these fine folks hail from Lazy Stupid and Godless, the best (if most foul-mouthed) little group on Ravelry. They’ve raised over $6,500 since just last night. If you’d like to help LSG work toward increasing that total, just report the donations you make to any Haitian earthquake relief fund to this page on Ravelry, and they’ll add your donation to the list.
…So please make a donation, or go shopping, or both. And thank you!
Organizations Offering Support and Relief to Haitian Earthquake Victims
For those interesting in helping immediately, simply text “HAITI” to “90999” and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.” (probably US cell phones only)
Doctors Without Borders
Red Cross
WorldCare
List of charities from the BBC
Habitat for Humanity Haitian disaster response
Save the Children: Haiti
Yele (or, alternately, Yele)
Oxfam America
Partners in Health
Ebay has added an option to donate $1 from your auction to disaster relief for Haitians.
List of secular aid organisations posted in the Atheist and Agnostic Crafters Group
…LoopyLou from Loopy Lou’s Adventures into Handicrafts! Congratulations, LoopyLou, and thanks to everyone who entered!
(Even if you didn’t win, you can still enjoy Harlow, Zora, and the delicious yarn Madelinetosh Wren – Harlow can be found for purchase here; Zora is FREE here; and Wren can be purchased at EatSleepKnit. I hope you can enjoy them all!)
Just a reminder – the contest I’m holding to celebrate the publication of my two new patterns, Zora and Harlow, ends at 11:59 CST tonight! All comments received after that point will be discarded and not entered in the contest - so you’ve got less than 4 hours left to enter! Just leave a comment here and you’ll be entered to win a skein of Madelinetosh Wren, as well as a copy of my new pattern, Harlow: The contest is now closed! Thanks to everyone who entered – there will be a winner announced tomorrow (Monday, December 21) – stay tuned!
To read more about Harlow or to purchase the pattern for yourself, click here. To read more about Zora (which is available free in Winter ’09 Knitty), click here.
Thanks and good luck!
True fact: I am a total nerd when it comes to stitch patterns. Like many designers, I’m constantly trying out new stitches, or old ones in this or that yarn – which, combined with my lust for knitting books in general, has turned me into an absolute hoarder avid collector of stitch dictionaries, both new and old. Even on the rare occasion when I’m not knitting, stitch dictionaries are like candy to me – I can read and re-read them as if they were an engrossing article in the latest Vanity Fair. I rarely even go on vacation without a Barbara Walker book in my car.
I know I share this obsession with stitch patterns with many other designers – and that for many of us, that obsession is a kind of dependence, too. Even the most innovative designers often treat stitches as downright canonical. No matter how innovative the overall design, the stitch patterns used generally don’t stray far from the beaten path. Some stitches may be more familiar than others, and some more obscure – but it’s rare for a designer to really tinker with these fundamental, axiomatic building blocks of the basic knitted form.
So it was a thrill that my publisher, Stewart Tabori and Chang, sent me a review copy of fellow designer Lynne Barr’s new book, Reversible Knitting, and an even bigger thrill to chat with Lynne herself – because Lynne has gone far outside the boundaries of the common stitch dictionary, and has invented fifty ground-breaking stitch patterns all her own. Now I know that “invented” is a strong word – but it’s entirely warranted in reference to this amazing book, which seeks to change the very architecture of knitting stitches themselves, and further, seeks to change the way we think about stitches and how to use them.
First I’ll tell you a bit about this amazing book, and then I’ll share with you the transcript of my brief chat with Lynne on the nature of her truly innovative work.
Continue reading Book Review/Q & A: Reversible Knitting by Lynne Barr
So thanks to everyone who’s dropped by since Zora was published yesterday in the new winter Knitty! It’s a thrill to see so many people seem to be enjoying Zora, and the blog, too. As I promised yesterday, without further ado, here is my next latest pattern:
Harlow
Click to buy Harlow as a PDF pattern download for $7.00
Harlow is a flattering faux-wrap top, adorned by a pretty band of lace along the surplice V neck and at the vented sides and sleeves, as well as a seed stitch band around the empire waist and hem.
 A plunging neckline, modest bust darts, and a cut that just skims the body make it flattering to virtually any body type.
Made with just a few skeins of sock yarn, and knit at a larger gauge than usually called for, the pattern has beautiful drape and style – and it’s as quick and easy to knit as it is easy to wear.
Click here to purchase Harlow as a Ravelry PDF download for $7.00 , or visit Harlow’s Ravelry pattern page.
(If you’d like a chance to win a copy of Harlow, plus a skein of the beautiful Madelinetosh Wren yarn used to make Zora, have a look at this post here! Thanks for looking!)
Winter Knitty is here – and so is my latest pattern, Zora!
Meet Zora: a versatile cardigan that can find a home just about anywhere in your wardrobe. It can be worn belted, with a brooch or shawl pin, or just open – and it’s versatile enough to dress up or down, depending on your mood. Zora is an easy knit for the advanced beginner to intermediate knitter – knit flat in pieces and then assembled before knitting on the broad ribbed collar, and made with a simple eyelet pattern that’s easy to memorize. And best of all, like all Knitty patterns Zora is free for you to enjoy.
To all the folks stopping by for the first time, thank you for visiting! I’m so pleased to be included in this awesome issue of Knitty – there’s so much gorgeous stuff in there that I’m humbled to even be a part of it. So huge thanks to Amy and Jillian and Mandy, as well as to my fab photographer, Zoe Gottstein, to Amy Hendrix at Madelinetosh, and to everybody who helped make this actually happen!
To celebrate, I’ve decided to share my good fortune with you, the reader: I’m giving away a prize package including one skein of Madelinetosh Wren in Grasshopper, the gorgeous sport weight silk/wool yarn out of which Zora was made:
And I’ll also include a copy of my newest pattern, Harlow - so new it won’t even be released until tomorrow, Tuesday December 15 which is now available for sale!
To enter, just leave a comment telling me what you like about Zora (and/or about Harlow) before 11:59 PM CST on Saturday, December 19. One winner will be randomly selected on Sunday, December 20 and announced on Monday, December 21.
In the meantime, I’d better get back to finishing up the final touches on Harlow – expect to see it tomorrow night, Tuesday, December 15! And in the meantime – again, thanks for coming by. I hope you’ll poke around and find some helpful tutorials here, and all-around have a bit of fun – and I can’t wait to see how your Zora turns out!
ETA: Comments are now closed and a winner will be announced Monday, December 21. Please check back to see if you won – and thanks for entering!
How did it get to be quite this long? …Despite the long silence, these last few weeks have been packed with excitement about some some really fun things that I’ll be able to share with you soon. You may have noticed some changes to my website – but that’s not all there is by half. In the coming weeks on this blog, I’ll be sharing new designs, new articles, and even a guest appearance: next week, I’ll be interviewing knitter extraordinaire Lynne Barr about her new book, Reversible Knitting, which is bound to be a fascinating conversation. There might even be more jam, if I can squeeze in a batch before the holidays. And best of all, in a few days, when a certain surprise is finally made public, there will even be a giveaway with some absolutely scrumptious yarny goodies for you readers!
So for now, I’ll just offer my heartfelt apologies for being so very tardy in writing and ask you to stay tuned – and I’ll also offer up this little sneak peek at just one of the new patterns of mine that are scheduled to come out very soon:
So thanks for your patience – and thanks for dropping by; it’s nice to see you again!
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