Tag: pattern

Hallein Cowl

Posted on by Aphaia

The first pattern in the collection is inspired by the salt mines of Austria, namely the city of Hallein. The mines have yielded some interesting archaeological discoveries, including cloth - with a plaid pattern.

The Hallein Cowl is a two colour pattern, using either DK (or Aran) weight yarn. It combines textured rib, with a two colour slip stitch pattern that is perfect for beginners unused to working with multiple yarns at the same time - only one colour is used per row. Two lengths are available: the short version create a neat close-fitting cowl, which is perfect for tucking into a jacket collar. The long version can be worn doubled around the neck for extra cosiness.

Samples shown use Ginger’s Hand Dyed Sheepish DK, in the Sound & Fury, and Muddy Paws colour ways (Short), and Brigantia Luxury Aran, in the Gunmetal Grey (796) and Natural (101) colour ways (Long).
The cowl co-ordinates with the Hallein Hat and the Hallein Wrist Warmers.

Materials
225 (595) {275 (705)} yds / 206 (544) {251.5 (645)} DK {Aran} weight yarn in two shades:
MC 150 (400) {185 (480)} yds / 137 (366) {169 (439)} m
CC 75 (195) {90 (225)} yds / 69 (178) {82.5 (206)} m

4.5 mm {5 mm} / US 7 {US 8} circular needle or DPNs

Stitch marker (1)
Tapestry needle

Gauge
20 {18} sts x 30 {24} rnds = 4 “ / 10 cm in broken rib in the rnd, with DK Aran weight yarn on 4.5 5 mm needles.
20 {18} sts x 36 {26} rnds = 4 “ / 10 cm in slip stitch pattern in the rnd, with DK Aran weight yarn on 4.5 5 mm needles.

Sizes
Short (Long)
Circumference 20 (52) {22 (58)} “ / 50.5 (137) {56 (147)} cm.
Height 12 (12) {12 (12)} “ / 30.5 (30.5) {30.5 (30.5)} cm.

The individual pattern will be available to purchase online from June 10th, 2017 (£3.00 GBP).

A Love Like Salt: North

"Once upon a time, in a kingdom far far away…”

Although there are many fairytales, A Love like Salt is perhaps not one of the better known - yet the variations of the story are found all over the world. This collection draws on the fairy tale as a starting point, but delves into the history and culture of salt as inspiration for these patterns.

Comprising of 6 patterns, the collection is currently available to pre-order either as a e-book, or as a paper copy+e-book - information on how to order is given below.

The collection will be released digitally on June 10th, 2017.

If you would like to pre-order the e-book only, this can be purchased via Ravelry (for the discounted price of £10).

If you would like to pre-order the paper copy+e-book for (the discounted price of £12 plus P&P), please click here. Pre-orders for paper copies closes May 31st, 2017), and the paper copies of the book will be shipped on June 15th, 2017.

(Prices on full release: e-book only £12.00, paper copy+e-book £13.50 plus P&P).

A Love Like Salt

Posted on by Aphaia

Things may have seemed extremely quiet for a while around here, but if you are on Ravelry you may have noticed a few adverts popping up here and there around the site. These were all in anticipation of a new collection I've been putting together, and the provisional pattern pages have been up on Ravelry since the end of April.

However, since we wrapped up the official photoshoot on Friday I can now switch things up and start promoting it properly!

Before we get into the proper introduction to the collection, it seems sensible to provide some background on the inspiration (and an explanation of the title) before I share the patterns.

First of all... Salt?

Well, yes... Me being me, and finding inspiration in all sorts of strange things, salt seemed a good choice (however unlikely you may find it!)

Although the history and archaeology of salt is extremely interesting, it is actually its appearance in fairy tales which was the original starting point for the collection. It is not one of the more commonly known stories, but the tale A Love Like Salt actually appears in various forms across Europe and Asia.

The tale in all its variants is very similar. A father asks daughters how much they love him. The elder daughters all respond with socially appropriate equivalents (sugar, gold, that sort of thing). The youngest, however, always responds that she loves him like salt.

Displeased with her answer, he drives his youngest daughter from his home. She wanders for a while, eventually finding employment as a lowly servant at a wealthy and powerful household. There the son of the household falls in love with her, and despite resistance on his parents part (normally resolved when they discover she is not as low in status as first appears), permit the marriage.

She makes the decision to invite her father (in secret) to her wedding feast, but she instructs the cook to prepare all of his food without salt. The father, failing to recognise his estranged daughter, finds his meal inedible. Realising now the extent his daughter's love (since no man can survive without salt), he laments that he has wronged her and mourns her (he believes she is probably dead at this point).

Instead she reveals herself and everyone is happily reconciled. Hurrah!

Using that as a starting point, I looked to the history and geography of salt to provide the actual inspiration for the individual patterns. What I found was an awful lot of inspiration! It was at this point that the collection started to take on a life of its on. Rather than create one (extremely) large collection, I instead decided to break it down into more manageable sections - North, South, East and West.

So, may I now introduce (officially), A Love Like Salt: North. A small collection of six patterns, with an emphasis on slip stitches and texture.

Hallein Hat

Hallein Wrist Warmers

Zelle

Hallein Cowl

Guérande

Salaka

A Love Like Salt: North

"Once upon a time, in a kingdom far far away…”

Although there are many fairytales, A Love like Salt is perhaps not one of the better known - yet the variations of the story are found all over the world. This collection draws on the fairy tale as a starting point, but delves into the history and culture of salt as inspiration for these patterns.

Comprising of 6 patterns, the collection is currently available to pre-order either as a e-book, or as a paper copy+e-book - information on how to order is given below.

The collection will be released digitally on June 10th, 2017.

If you would like to pre-order the e-book only, this can be purchased via Ravelry (for the discounted price of £10).

If you would like to pre-order the paper copy+e-book for (the discounted price of £12 plus P&P), please click here. Pre-orders for paper copies closes May 31st, 2017), and the paper copies of the book will be shipped on June 15th, 2017.

(Prices on full release: e-book only £12.00, paper copy+e-book £13.50 plus P&P).

Pattern | Cluaran Tea Cosy

Posted on by Aphaia
Cluaran Tea Cosy
Cluaran Tea Cosy

The Cluaran Tea Cosy was released in October last year, following on from the Design Competition for the Glasgow School of Yarn. (The theme was Homecoming in Scotland, can you tell?)

It uses my perennial favourite – Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumperweight; using three shades (although you can get a great effect using just two – more on that in a future post). The pattern comes in four basic sizes, with additional guidance for customising the fit for your own tea pot. The slits for the spout and handle are steeked and finished with an i-cord bind-off. And the best bit in my opinion? The wee thistle tassel at the top!

Full pattern information can be found here.

Notes: Cluaran = Thistle.

Tesserae Shawl: Pre-Order Offer

Posted on by Aphaia

After quite a bit of interest, I have decided to add the Tesserae Shawl pattern to Ravelry for pre-order. And as a reward for those who want to purchase early, the pattern has been discounted to £3.50 GBP until midnight GMT on October 14th, 2014! After that the price will revert to £4.50.

The final pattern will include full written instructions for both the half-circle (pictured below) and full-circle versions. On purchasing the pattern at the moment, the downloadable file includes complete notes on dimensions, yarn / yardage requirements, tools and gauge.

The pattern can be found on Ravelry here. (Please feel free to repost this offer!)

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

New Pattern: Flock Together Cowl

Posted on by Aphaia

If you weren’t already aware – I have another pattern out in this month’s Knit Now Magazine (Issue 39, Sept 2014).

(C) Dan Walmsley for Practical Publishing

The cowl is extra cosy as it is fully lined. It uses three yarns – two for the colourwork and a third for the lining. Available in three lengths (short, medium, long) – the short is shown above.

At the moment the pattern is available from the More Mags website and in stores in the UK. It will be available for individual purchase next year on Ravelry.

I’ll write more about the inspiration behind the pattern in another post.

March-April-May-June FOs

Posted on by Aphaia

Since I haven’t updated this for a while, there are quite a few finished objects. And normally I run a post like this after the month has finished, but since I haven’t done it for a while I got carried away and included a couple of things that were finished in June. I should have some other stuff done by the end of the month (probably another pair of socks) which I post then.

 

Socks

All the socks follow my usual basic sock recipe, I’ve found that this pattern works well for me and I don’t have to think about what I’m doing. At some point I will write this pattern up!

  • Rye I and Rye II – the free sock pattern ‘Rye‘ by Tincanknits. The first pair is in Abstract Cat Sportweight Merino in the ‘Harvest’ colourway, the second uses Wollmeise Pure 100% Merino in a ‘We’re Different’ version of ‘Giandula’ – I held the yarn double for this pair which turned out too large for me but fitted the BF perfectly. He’s already asking for more socks.
  • Hermione – using the very popular ‘Hermione’s Everyday Socks‘ , just used the stitch pattern and some Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Multi in the ‘Mt. Creek’ colourway. Really liked knitting these, they seemed to get knitted up awfully quickly.
  • Sherbet Socks – just my basic socks using Easyknits.co.uk Deeply Wicked in the ‘Dib Dab’ colourway. Actually had the first sock done for quite a while. I cast on the second sock on the bus on a Monday morning, by Monday night I had the entire foot and heel done. I didn’t knit on them Tuesday and finished it off Wednesday – one very fast second sock! Loved the colourway but the second sock pooled a lot more than the first, the first striped, whereas the second was pooling on the foot. Thankfully the leg returned to normal so I’m happy with that.

Mittens

  • Voar II – a pair for me (the first were a shop sample for Ginger Twist Studio) using some leftover Cascade Superwash 220 and Drops Nepal.

Shawls

  • Hoxne – I’ve wanted to knit this since I first purchased Doggerland: Knits from a Lost Landscape, I originally planned for it to be knitted up in some Snaeldan 2ply I picked up in Reykjavik earlier this year, but one of the later released patterns uses this yarn and I had to find a substitute – so a well matured skein of The Yarn Yard Crannog in various shades of purple was used instead. I need to reblock the shawl but am delighted with it, I think it will be a perfect lightweight summer shawl.

Jumpers

  • 3-in-1 – a jumper in fingering weight… which I love so much I’m already planning a second. Uses some Old Maiden Aunt Alpaca/Silk/Cashmere 4 Ply in two colourways which I dyed myself at the workshop I took last year, plus some cream sock yarn and one of the Small Skein Society colourways from The Yarn Yard. I need to get better pictures of the FO rather than just the progress pictures! The next one will use orange shades I think.

Random

  • I Talk With The Moon Tea Cosy – more on this in an upcoming post. My own design, which uses Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds B.F.L. in the Cream and Brown B.F.L. shades.
  • Oink! – A mini version of the free pattern ‘Big Pink Pig‘ by Purl SoHo, using my own handspun (Hilltop Cloud Merino/BFL/Seacell/Llama).
  • A mystery project/design which I cannot tell you anything about – come back in September for information on this one!