knitting school dropout

upcoming trunk show + book signing events

2010-07-13T13:32:40Z

cecily and i will be bringing the book garments around for a few trunk show / book signings in the not so distant future. here are some definite dates so far, with others to be added as soon as times/details are determined.

A Stitch in Time
July 15, 6:00-8:00pm
Bethel, CT

Purl Diva
July 25, 1:00-3:00pm
Brunswick, ME

WEBS
July 29, 6:00-8:00pm
Northampton, MA
registration is free, but sign-ups are required. please contact customer service at 413-584-2225 or customerservice@yarn.com to register.

Hub Mills
August 14, 1:00-3:00pm
Lowell, MA

A Loom With a View
September 11, 2010
Newburyport, MA (where the book was photographed!)
time tbd

come say hi and see the sweaters in person!

wakefield scarf

2010-07-08T01:52:03Z

new england knits was always planned as a 25 project book. but, in the end, we had 26. so, one little project never made it in, but now it's available as a free pattern!

photo by sadie dayton

the wakefield scarf is a diagonal lace scarf knit with 3 skeins of the very lovely yarn mirasol tupa.. the lace pattern can easily be adapted to knit a wrap instead of a scarf (don't forget to purchase double the yardage though).

so, go check out the pattern here.

or queue it on ravelry here.

quince and co.

2010-07-06T17:06:00Z

recently i had the opportunity to try some lovely yarns before they became commercially available. it was instant love.
that's why i am so excited to tell you that quince and co is finally here!
so, go see all the lovely yarns and patterns there. you might even stumble upon this little reversible ribbed beret i designed.
photography is property of quince and co.

find this design on ravelry

some giveaways!

2010-07-02T03:56:49Z

there are some new england knits giveaways happening right this second!

hurry, hurry!

the one at craftgossip.com ends tomorrow.

and the one at the kelbourne woolens blog started today! (kw is also giving away the yarn to make the whale watch hat!)

good luck!

i have a much longer post in the works, complete with photos from my recent trip to harrisville, but i'm too tired to write about my good time tonight. :)

two lace hats

2010-06-28T22:02:23Z

i'm finishing up some new hat (and a sweater!) designs right now. the ruffled cardi is finished. a new hat design is getting charted tonight.

not that it'll make any room for my new patterns, but i thought i might take advantage of ravelry's ebook feature and group my 2 most popular hat patterns together for a reduced price. they are still the same price when purchased individually, but if you don't have them already, you can purchase acorns and crooked paths together as the two lace hats collection for $7.50. they are $5 each separately.

clicking the button below will take you to the paypal page. after you pay you'll be given instructions to download your patterns.

box o' knits

2010-06-23T03:45:03Z

the garments from the book arrived here today so we can bring them with us when we visit shops. i'm reunited with my o-wool hoodie. yay. and some of the projects have been added to ravelry. i'll blog about each of mine soon.

the final countdown

2010-06-20T15:43:58Z

did you know that in only 10 days (july 1st), new england knits will be officially released? i ~~am definitely~~ might be freaking out a ~~lot~~ bit. i am a pretty mellow person. i do not know how to handle excitement. at all. luckily, i've had lots to distract me lately.

i'm trying to wait patiently for quince and co to officially launch. i've had the pleasure of sampling all of their yarns now, and i am in love. the colors, the stitch definition. swoon. see, now you can't wait either!

i never did finish my cardigan for tnna. i finished the body and 1 sleeve by the 1st day, but only just finished the other sleeve. then i thought the ruffles were a bit too ruffle-y and big, so i made them smaller, which was a lot of ripping. i have re-knit all but 1 ruffle and the edging. maybe 2 hours of knitting left, then i'm done. i spent some time writing the pattern up too, so it should be available soon. it's a top-down, open front cardigan with a little ruffled edge and 1/2 sleeves. i wear a ton of open-front cardigans as a layer of protection from the air-conditioning that seems to be turned up to 11 everywhere i go. here's a peek:

i also wear cropped short-sleeve cardigans a lot over tanks and dresses this time of year, so of course i was super excited for the release of cecily's new design. i was extra excited when she let me take the photos for the pattern while we were in ohio. details on her blog.

oh yeah, i went to ohio again! as expected, it was lots of fun to see friends from far away, eat amazing ice cream and show people the book.

i've been back for a few days, but i'm still kind of catching up on sleep and trying to keep myself busy while i wait for the book to finally be out.

melissa

blue-greens

2010-06-08T02:20:00Z

i recently dyed silk scarves with a bunch of the webs ladies. our friend/co-worker gail is the very talented dyer behind the fabulous book hand dyeing yarn and fleece. gail is the kind of person who shares her gift with people. don't you just love people like that?
so, now i am the owner of a pretty silk scarf. i think i'm definitely going through a blue-green phase.

for the last few days i've been kind of struggling with headaches and insomnia, so i'm really just not feeling like myself. the bummer of it all is that staring at my knitting just makes headaches worse. so, in an effort to finish something before tnna, i started an entirely new sweater. it's 90% stockinette, so i can knit (and purl) without having to look at it at all. excellent cranky couch knitting! and look, a nearly complete sweater.
the sweater will have elbow-length sleeves and some neat details at the fronts, but that's secret for now. it's a top-down cardigan, and i'll be self-publishing that pattern (along with a few others that are almost ready) very soon on the blog. i'm using valley yarns goshen in a new color called "pacific".

if you're heading to tnna this weekend, cecily and i will be at the interweave booth first thing saturday morning. you can stop by and check out the book, if you'd like.

parterre pullover

2010-06-04T18:38:34Z

another new pattern:

the parterre pullover was designed for webs in the new valley yarns greenfield. the stockinette portions of the body and sleeves are knit from the bottom up, in the round, and then joined at the underarms and worked in one piece throughout the raglan decreases. the zig zags are a simple knit and purl pattern which is picked up at the edges and worked down. i chose to do this rather than knit them seamlessly because i think that seams or picked up edges can help sweaters keep their shape when knit out of a heavier fiber like cotton.
this sweater has a funnel neck, which can be worn loose and cowl-like, or folded over like a wide turtleneck.
the pattern is part of the newest round of valley patterns and can be purchased here. find it on ravelry here.

the gff was kind enough to model since i wasn't feeling up to it, and the dress form is, you know, not nearly as cute.

and because i've let so much time go by without posting andi'll never be able to catch up here: read about a really fun project that i was involved in on jared's blog

now available as downloads!

2010-06-04T18:07:39Z

if you're having trouble finding copies of the new fibre company/kelbourne woolens hat patterns at your lys, i'm pleased to announce that they are now available online!

now when you click the picture of the hat, on the kelbourne woolens wholesale patterns page you'll see a "click to buy" button. just click it to purchase pdf downloads of each hat. instant gratification!

photos are property of kelbourne woolens. used with permission.

comments are disabled on this entry.

(insert happy dance here)

2010-04-29T02:52:13Z

i knew it was coming... but really how prepared can you really be for the first time you see your book?

it came in a rush.

wrapped in wrapping paper, even. i heart interweave

and then, there it was, all real and stuff. :) did i ever tell you that i was mildly obsessed with our book being square? i've always loved my little collection of square interweave books. when we first got our book deal, i kept saying "we're going to have a cute little square interweave book!".

and now we really do. i feel like crying and hugging someone and crying some more. i wish i didn't have to only virtually high-five and hug cecily today. i guess i'll just hug my book until i can visit her again.

the book still won't be out for a couple months, this is just an advance copy. but still, joy! next time i post, i think there will be a peek inside!

more new designs

2010-04-23T18:45:54Z

i've found myself, once again, with a bunch of projects due around the same time. as i'm putting the finishing touches on them all, i thought i'd pause to show a few other new patterns of mine that are now available. last year was such a crazy/ busy knitting year for me and with these new patterns and the book coming soon, i'm happy to finally share some of what i was so busy with!

in my last post, i showed you just one of the 3 hats that i designed for kelbourne woolens/ the fibre company. well, there are 2 others that i've been meaning to show also. both are variations of the same leaf stitch patterns. it's a leaf pattern that i've knit in hats and the like so many times that it's been permanently memorized. i just love it.

here's frukttradgard, in the fibre co's road to china light in peridot (all hat pictures are used with permission, because i spaced out and mailed them without taking my own) ravelry link

and here's my favorite of all, krummholz, in the gorgeous worsted weight yarn, road to china. ravelry link

these patterns, as well as stratum from my previous post are available as wholesale hard copies to fibre co stockists. they will also be available as paid downloads in the near future. for more information you can contact kelbournewoolens at info@kelbournewoolens.com

last fall i may have squealed a little when i was asked to design a sweater for the 2nd issue of st-denis magazine. nordique is already one of my favorite yarns, and the first issue veronik put out was a beautiful collection. so yeah, i was a wee bit really, really excited.

here's my sweater for the next issue: the cottage street hoodie ravelry link

this sweater is knit from the bottom up (not many people know this, but i actually prefer a good bottom-up, seamless sweater. i just love getting the sleeves out of the way in the beginning. this hooded cardigan is nice and lightweight, since it's knit at a sport-weight gauge and has mirrored lace panels in the front and a centered lace panel up the back. i think it's perfect for a spring/fall/summer night outer-layer. i'm knitting one for myself in a cranberry color of nordique right now.
i seem to have only taken a few photo of it blocking, but veronik posted some on the ravelry page too.

and...last but not least...a TINY tea leaves cardigan!

when Amy from madelinetosh proposed the idea of resizing my tea leaves cardigan pattern for young girls, i thought it was a great idea. the next thing i knew, there was yarn on my doorstep and i was tossing projects aside to knit the wee version. this is knit in tosh vintage, perfect, because it's a washable wool with a huge and beautiful selection of colors.

the pattern covers child sizes 2-12, with a little positive ease built in and 3-quarter sleeves. as i mention in the pattern, if you can, measure the child you're knitting for. they all grow at different rates, which can make choosing a size difficult at times. when in doubt, you can always knit a size bigger, and the child can wear it next year! :)

you can purchase the pattern here.

i also wanted to thank everyone who has purchased my recent self-published designs crooked paths and acorns, your support means a lot to me as i try out this self-publishing thing.

well, that's all for right now. i have lots more to add, but i should really be finishing a sweater.

melissa

p.s. the book is now available for preorder from webs too! yay!

new hat patterns part 1: stratum

2010-03-25T01:09:48Z

the 3 hat patterns that i designed for kelbourne woolens/the fibre company are now available! you'll now be able to purchase copies of these at your favorite fibre company stockists. they'll also be available for purchase as downloads on the kw site in the coming months. i'll give you a quick peek at each of them this week:

stratum is a beret that uses garter stitch and stockinette columns as a simple way to showcase the truly beautiful yarn, terra. it uses only 2 skeins. i'd love one in beet, personally.

find it on ravelry

(photographs are property of kelbourne woolens and used with permission)

i'll be back with the others in a few days. right now, i'm trying to finish up a new design for madelinetosh and i only seem to have a limited amount of energy for knitting when i get out of work these days.

goodnight, all!

gasp

2010-03-22T17:59:01Z

i'm 35 today!

and yes, i did knit the fonz a short-sleeved, round yoke pullover. it's even knit top-down. heh.

tea leaves: the sequel

2010-03-15T23:26:20Z

recently i resolved to divide my knitting time equally between work and personal projects. so far, i've been pretty good at sticking to it, and as a result, i have a new cardigan to wear.

this is the second one that i've knit. the first went to live at madelinetosh headquarters.

pattern: tea leaves (my own) available for purchase here
yarn: madelinetosh tosh dk (formerly called tosh worsted) 4 skeins in malachite for the size 34"
needles: 4 and 5mm
mods: shortened body by 1" and made 3/4 length sleeves that lined up perfectly with the end of the body. it's a perfect transitional weather piece, and it will get lots of wear now that spring is around the corner. because of the shorter length, i used less yarn than called for. also, i got stitch, but not row gauge, so my ruched areas are narrower than the original. i considered adding 2 more rows to those sections, but i ended up liking how it looked and decided not to.

i've been wearing this sweater everyday since it finished blocking. i'm so happy to have another finished knit in my closet. i predict a few more finished sweaters in the coming month or two.