Back on the socks...

Oh, and I'm back on them hard. They are just flying off my needles these days!

First off, I figured I should let you all know that Heart of December (Ravelry link) has been released. Here's a better picture of the socks: And here's a better view of the top of the sock, to show off the twin vines with their garter stitch leaves twining down the foot: Don't forget that you can grab the pattern over to the left or right over here. It should be turning up in my Etsy shop shortly.

As usual, here are the things you might like to know about Heart of December:

Size: Women’s Medium (or any foot/leg that is 8” in circumference.)

Gauge: 8 stitches = 1 inch (2.5 cm) in Stockinette st.

Yarn: 2 skeins of Knit Picks Gloss (220 y / 50 g) in Dusk or the equivalent amount of any other comparable fingering weight yarn.

Needles: One set of five (5) double pointed needles in US 2 (2.75 mm) or size necessary to obtain gauge.

Notions: A stitch marker to mark beginning of round (optional,) and a sewing needle to weave in ends.

Skills Needed: Knitting in the round, lace, twisted stitches, chart reading and grafting.

And because I really have no sense of when to say "when," feast your eyes on these:This is Mokira (Ravlery link), yes, another new sock! Watch for him to come out before the end of this week (before 23 November 2008, that is.) Would you believe that he's my 20th knitting pattern? I can hardly believe it, myself! I told you I didn't know when to stop!

A sneaky peek.

I'm so glad you came
I'm so glad you remembered
the walking through walls in the heart of December...
~"Last Dance," The CureNew sock! Better pictures are on the way. This one's called Heart of December (Ravlery link.) I blame Robert Smith. This is not the first time he's turned up in my knitting (please pardon my Rav-link.)

But back to the sock! This is a new pattern of mine, which will be released into the wild before Thursday, 20 November 2008, in plenty of time for you to bang out a pair for your holiday knitting. Seriously, it's been a long time since I've knit a sock that was this much fun. I just couldn't put it down, it was that enjoyable.

As always, stay tuned for more sock-info.

The Penelo sock pattern is ready!

It's Saturday, the Penelo sock pattern (Ravelry link) has been released, as promised!Penelo is a pretty sock with a tiny bit of lace and a lot of texture. Seed stitch diamonds alternate from cuff to toe, providing an ideal way to showcase your favourite solid or semi-solid sock yarn. For these socks, the gorgeously striping Trekking (XXL) is a must!

Yes, Penelo looks fancy and lacy and complicated, but she's really a straight-forward kind of girl. There are no odd stitches or even techniques like cabling hidden within this pattern -- it's all basic stitches. She'd be a great first fancy sock for knitters who only knit plain socks!

You can pick up Penelo on Ravelry here or at my Etsy shop right over here.

Here's some more interesting information about Penelo:

The pattern is a clear, concise, 4-page .pdf file with large charts and images.

Size: Women’s Medium (or any foot/leg that is 8” in circumference.)

Gauge: 8 stitches = 1 inch (2.5 cm) in Stockinette st.

Yarn: 1 skein of Zitron Trekking (XXL) (459 y / 100 g) in colourway 147 or the equivalent amount of any other comparable fingering weight yarn.

Needles: One set of five (5) double pointed needles in US 2 (2.75 mm) or size necessary to obtain gauge.

Notions: A stitch marker to mark beginning of round (optional,) and a sewing needle to weave in ends.

Skills Needed: Knitting in the round, lace, twisted stitches, chart reading and grafting. No cabling skills are required in the making of this sock.

It feels good to be back on the socks again. I'm working on another new sock as well, so you'll have more sock content soon!

A better view...

...of Penelo (Ravelry link), as promised:The pattern is coming along nicely! At this point it may very well be released before the weekend. I'll have to see how it goes.

Haunted by socks.

It's been forever since I even thought about her (or socks in general,) but do you recall me talking about Penelo (Ravelry link) a little while back? How about a visual aid to jog your memory: Well, she's done! I surprised myself and finished her off today. The pattern is going to be released sometime this weekend (8 - 9 November 2008.) I would have provided a more recent picture but I lost the light before I had the chance to take one tonight. Expect proper pictures to appear shortly.

So there you go -- some sock content at long last. There may be more to come, as well!

Heather's Mittens -- your early present!

There may be a couple of months remaining until the holiday season proper, but here's a gift for you today:Yes, the pattern for Heather's Mittens (on Ravelry) has just been released. Grab it here or over here on Ravlery. As promised, instructions are provided to make both regular and fingerless mittens. I know some of you prefer the latter over the former, so I'm happy to oblige.

These mitts go up very quickly making them a gret addition to your holiday knitting. Go on and grab that pattern!

More info about my gift to all y'all...

Progress continues on the new, free mitten pattern:At this point, she just needs a thumb. Did I mention that the pattern is going to feature instructions on how to make these as a pair of fingerless mittens? The gifting potential just increased tenfold! Oh, and her name is Heather, after (unsurprisingly,) Heather. Look for the pattern on Saturday, 25 October 2008. It would be finished tomorrow night if I wasn't going to a DAVID BYRNE show.
Viva Señor Byrne!

Don't forget to swing by here (or on Ravelry) on Saturday for that new pattern!

Just a wee taste!

This should tide you over...

What you see up there is the beginnings of my latest mitten, but there's a twist -- it's going to be a FREE mitten pattern! This will be my present to all you lovely knitters for the 2008 holiday season.

Look for the pattern by 1 November 2008 at the very, very latest (it will most likely surface this week -- 19 - 25 October.) You will have plenty of time to make a pair for yourself or for someone special this holiday season!

I hope you've enjoyed this little nibble!

Phedre's ready -- knit as thou wilt!

Where the mittens can't, won't, don't stop:This is Phedre, my newest mitten. Her pattern's just been released and you can pick it up both here on Ravelry and here on Etsy, in plenty of time for your holiday/winter knitting.

Here's her palm, complete with hidden thumb:I'm sure that some of you only have to look at this mitten to immediately get the reference, but for the sake of the uninitiated (among whom I numbered a scant couple of months ago) I will explain. I've already told you about how I can hardly see, do or read anything without thinking of how it would translate into mitten-form, and this mittens is further proof of that fact. Well, I've been reading Jacqueline Carey’s Legacy of Kushiel series, which features the heroine Phèdre. Phèdre's entire back is tattooed with a briar rose motif (her "marque,") which denotes that she has pledged herself as a sacred courtesan. I just couldn't resist being presented with such a distinctive and pretty symbol and I knew, fairly early on, that I would have to work it into a mitten.

PLEASE NOTE: NO SPOILERS PLEASE! I have not yet finished reading the entire Kushiel series! At this point, however, I am nearly finished reading Kushiel's Avatar, which is the third book in the series.

Here are some other things that you might like to know about Phedre:

The pattern is a clear, concise, 4-page .pdf file with large charts and images.

Size: Women’s Medium (or any hand that is 8” in circumference.)

Gauge: 10 stitches = 1 inch (2.5 cm) in Stockinette st.

Yarn: One ball of Knit Picks’ Palette (231yd / 50g) in both of the following colours: Garnet Heather (MC) and Black (CC,) or any other fingering yarn in these colours or colours of your choice, and a 15” piece of waste yarn of the same weight in a contrasting colour to hold the thumb stitches.

Needles: One set of five (5) double pointed needles in US 0 (2 mm) or size necessary to obtain gauge.

Notions: A stitch marker to mark beginning of round (optional,) and a sewing needle to weave in ends.

Skills Needed: Knitting in the round, stranded knitting, the tiniest bit of lace knitting, and chart reading.

I hope you like the mittens! Knit as thou wilt!

On inspiration.

I'm beginning to think that I have a serous problem -- I can barely look at anything, be it textures, colours or any combination thereof without wondering how these elements woulds come together in a mitten. No shape, colour or texture is exempt from undergoing this process within my brain; it just happens.

I suppose if I were anyone other than me (and by this I mean forever destined to take the long, difficult path and then once done turn around and see the obvious, simple one) these urges would find no need to be expressed in mitten-form. I'm guessing that other people would just pick up pen or brush or clay and set about committing those shapes, colours and textures that seem so important to paper, canvas or clay respectively in a timely manner without having to make thousands of tiny stitches in the process (I actually did the math the other day -- I was appalled to find out how many stitches are actually in a pair of mittens knit on 2 mm needles. This knowledge, however, has not staunched the urge to continue producing such mittens. Long and difficult, indeed.)

Moreover, I find myself stopping and considering the most unlikely of things, on the off-chance that they might prove to be the next somethings that I'll need to deal with. Take the simple act of doing the laundry. Dirty shirts go in the wash, clean ones come out. Those clean shirts end up on the chair in the front room waiting to be folded. It's time for me to pull myself away from whatever else I'm doing for some quality folding-time......and I freeze. I'm too busy staring at the colours on the chair, the random way in which the laundry was taken out of the basket and laid there, waiting to be put away. Clearly this needs to be properly documented before this fortuitous spectacle (or clean t-shirts, to the rest of the world,) is broken up and put into its dresser drawers!

So, yes, I stood there and took pictures of my laundry. Allow me to warn you that if you do this the people you live with may look at you strangely (in some cases, more strangely. Anyway.) If this colour combination turns up in a mitten, please do not be terribly surprised -- my brain's already working away at this one.

And speaking of mittens, because how can I not have a new mitten on the needles or freshly released these days, there's another one coming this weekend:This is Phèdre (Ravelry link.) She'll be out this weekend. You might recognize her from Jacqueline Carey's Legacy of Kushiel series. Please note -- I have not yet finished reading this series, so PLEASE, no spoilers from those of you who have, thanks! I'll let you all know the second the pattern's out, as usual. Now I'm off to go tackle another mitten...it truly never ends.