Category Archives: Pattern

Hoosier Hood

15 Friday Jan 2021

Posted by in Knitting, Pattern, Thoughts

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O, it sets my heart a clickin’ like the tickin’ of a clock,
when the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock.
[James Whitcomb Riley] 

Hoosier HoodIt was 6 AM and my ears were cold. I was on my morning walk with my buddy, Louie, and I just wanted to get home where I could warm up. As we walked, I dreamed of a hat that I could quickly knit in one piece out of one 200-yard ball of yarn. When we got home, Louie got a treat and I knit the Hoosier Hood.

Here is the pattern (select the following link to download the PDF file): Hoosier Hood. I hope you enjoy it as much as my warm ears have.

Note: James Whitcomb Riley was a poet who wrote in hoosier dialect. Most of his poems appealed to children and the children’s hospital was named to honor him.

New Harmony Slippers

10 Friday Oct 2014

Posted by in Favorite Things, Knitting, Pattern, Ravelry, teaching classes

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Don’t you stay at home of evenings?
Don’t you love a cushioned seat in a corner, by the fireside,
with your slippers on your feet?
[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.]

New Harmony Slippers

Last weekend was the annual knitting retreat at the Barn Abby in historic New Harmony, Indiana. I love that little town, its shops, cafes, historic sites, botanical displays…

The New Harmony Slippers is the project I developed for part of this year’s program. The knitters who attend have been to countless classes so I had trouble thinking of something that wouldn’t be a repeat. I finally designed these slippers merely for their interesting construction. They have no sewn seams, but are not knit in the round in a way that socks are customarily knit. They are also a fairly brief project so those who were interested could finish at least one in the time we had together.

These slippers can also be worn in shoes like commercial footies or socks. The size is easily adjustable and the slipper toe can be knit in a decorative pattern. Plasti Dip or another synthetic laytex can be used to treat the soles if you intend these to be used as slippers instead of footies.

Pattern Features

  • Knit back and forth on two needles
  • No sewn seams—3-needle bindoff at heel
  • k2tog and ssk decreases
  • lifted stitch increase
  • slipped edge stitch
  • k2tog join at toe
  • 3-stitch attached icord

Yarn

Sock-weight yarn

Tools

Two US #2 (2.75 mm) needles (or size that gives gauge), yarn needle with eye, scissors

Gauge & Measurement

19 rows/2″ (5 cm) and 14 sts/2″ (5 cm)

The pattern is offered for $2.50 on ravelry.com at this link

New Harmony: Barn Abby

New Harmony: Barn Abby

Argyle Christmas Stocking

21 Saturday Dec 2013

Posted by in Free Pattern, Knitting, Pattern, Ravelry, teaching classes, Thoughts

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The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
[C. C. Moore]

Argyle Christmas Stocking

If I could put a subtitle on this post, it would be, The Last of the Argyle. Thirty years ago, I knit an argyle vest for my husband. I found the technique so tedious and frustrating that, when I finished it, I swore I’d never knit another. I’ve known knitters, including my mother, who enjoy the technique immensely and who would be frustrated with the techniques I enjoy most. Such is the way with human beings.

Less than a decade ago, a group asked me to teach the intarsia knitting technique (as used in making argyle) so I designed another argyle vest. The request keeps cropping up so I keep knitting more argyle. I tell myself, it builds character.

Then came the ultimate request, a sock pattern that is argyle without a sewn seam. Here it is. Since I knew that I didn’t have the self discipline to knit a second sock, I made it into a Christmas stocking so I could say I was finished after only one. The accent lines are worked in duplicate stitch using metallic gold yarn. Although the pattern is worked to and fro, a wrap and turn avoids the need for a sewn seam.

Here is a Christmas gift for those of you who knit —  a free printable PDF pattern for knitting the sock. NOTE: This version of the pattern is a revision of the original. The heel instructions are altered. 

Winter Class: Argyle Vest

02 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by in Free Pattern, Knitting, Knitting Sites, Pattern, teaching classes, Thoughts

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Design is not just
what it looks like
and feels like.
Design is how it works.
[Steve Jobs]

autumn argyle supplies

Teaching classes is an asset for a knitting-pattern designer. At least it is for me. Not only do my students inspire me by their requests and enthusiasm, but they help me clarify the pattern details and how to word the instructions. I have been composing a basic vest pattern in multiple sizes and gauges for an argyle technique class. Here are details of the fun parts of the pattern and how the design works:

  • Each of the eight students selected yarn colors in DK or light worsted weight from their favorite brands (Cascade 220, Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Brown Sheep Nature Spun, Rowan Creative Focus). I customized color charts (shown above) for each student to use with her written pattern.
  • The lower edge is ribbing that is knit in the round so it lays nicely on the hips.
  • The body is knit in two parts (back which is plain and front which is argyle) but the seam starts above the ribbing. Two stitches are added at the beginning and end of each piece as a seam allowance to produce an easy to sew, tidy seam.
  • The armholes are finished with applied iCord and the V-neck is finished with ribbing and an invisible bind off.
  • Attention is paid to smoothness of the fabric. Yarn joins and wraps follow the suggestions in the book shown below.
  • The accent lines are worked in duplicate stitch.

argyle-workshop-swatchAn excellent source for refining intarsia technique is Intarsia—A Workshop for Hand & Machine Knitting from the studio of Sealed with a Kiss (Sherry and Keely Stuever). Select this LINK to download a sample swatch pattern for argyle intarsia.

Okay, now I’m excited

15 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by in Knitting, Pattern, teaching classes, Thoughts, Writing

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When I’m inspired,
I get excited because
I can’t wait to see what I’ll come up with next.
[Dolly Parton]

Yesterday, I laid out and printed copies of a pattern for a class I’m scheduled to teach next Saturday. I used Adobe Illustrator to produce the chart, Adobe Photoshop to process the photos, and Adobe InDesign to lay out the pattern. I could easily save and distribute the layout as a PDF file.

I have been itching to try a layout in iBooks Author (Apple’s new, free software). Since I already had an assortment of images and text in a folder, I simply opened one of the templates in the new software, and placed my own content. With a little tweaking, I was ready to preview it in iBooks on my iPad 2. The images above are screen shots of the pages as they looked in iBooks (they were larger of course and quite readable). If I’d had a video demonstrating how to work this knitting technique, I could have placed it in the book as well.

For a number of years, I have been producing PDF files that can be read paperless (read that, on any PC or Mac that has a free Adobe Reader). In the past couple of years, I have been converting print books to ePub files for use on such devices as Nooks and Kindles. I’ve been researching ways to produce apps that include visually rich content, audio and video. I’ve learned the most from taking courses on Lynda.com.

Although I’ve learned a lot of technical stuff over the years, I am still a graphic artist at heart and have avoided crossing over into application programming. This new software opens a new world to me and it can only get better.

Colorful Counterpane Pattern

19 Tuesday Jul 2011

Posted by in Knitting, Knitting Sites, Pattern, Ravelry

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I was the giant great and still    
That sits upon the pillow-hill,    
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.
[Robert Louis Stevenson]

I’ve shown this counterpane on my blog before. Today, I uploaded the pattern to sell for $6.50 on Ravelry.

Counterpanes are decorative bed covers. In her book, Knitting Counterpanes, Traditional Coverlet Patterns for Contemporary Knitters, Mary Walker Phillips gives a thorough history of counterpanes. She then shares a number of knitting patterns for blocks and borders.

These were often knit using white or ecru cotton or linen thread. Heirloom samples are breathtaking in their beauty. They are also very heavy and fragile.

Although this pattern was inspired by the antique counterpanes, its fiber content and techniques are different. It is knit in the round in blocks that have a selvage that makes seaming easy. It is in color. When used in class, each block is designed to allow knitters to practice basic techniques beyond simply knitting and purling.

The pattern can be ordered at this LINK