Month April 2013

Fiber Factor: In Progress

remilyknits 4 Comments

So … my “in progress” video is up on The Fiber Factor!

Go ahead, watch it, I’ll wait here … did you watch a couple other videos too? I’m starting to get excited/anxious about how the first challenge will go, judging-wise.

I’ve actually already finished my Challenge #1 project (last Thursday) and my “designer notes” for the project (last Friday). Both have to be done and sent tomorrow, so it was nice to be ahead of schedule.

But, now I have nothing of pressing deadline to do! It’s so relaxing to catch up with a few neglected projects …

 

New Pattern Release: Mezair

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Introducing my latest pattern: Mezair!

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Pattern: Mezair

Designer: Rachel Henry (that’s me!)

Available: on Ravelry — $6 for the individual pattern, or $12 for the collection (special price, for a limited time)

Yarn: Knittink Batgirl (“Atlanteans #3”)

Beads: 224 size 6/0 seed beads, AB finish

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Design/Skills Needed:

This crescent-shaped shawlette begins with working the beaded lace edging sideways. All beads are pre-strung before knitting begins – no loose beads or tiny crochet hooks! The short-row body is worked from picked-up stitches. More lace finishes the top border of the shawlette, echoing the motifs from the bottom edging.

Mezair is part of the Airs Above the Ground Collection. Each of four shawlettes in the collection can be made with a single skein of fingering-weight yarn. Look for “Courbette” (sideways, modular, crescent-shaped, lace), “Capriole” (top-down, semi-circular, lace), and “Levade” (bottom-up, heart-shaped, lace).

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Sample Knitters Needed

remilyknits 4 Comments

Hello! I am in cahoots with Kate from A Hundred Ravens Yarn — indie dyer of the gorgeous pink-and-black yarn I used to make Capriole.

We want to make some of my patterns in Iachos and Llyr, so we can take pictures and sell patterns AND yarn at fairs. Most of the patterns are one-skein shawlettes, plus one pair of socks.

There’s never enough time to knit, so we’re hoping some intrepid sample knitters will help us out. In exchange for your knitting prowess, you get a free copy of the pattern in question, and an extra skein of yarn in the color of your choice.

Interested? For more details, please go to my sample-knitting thread in Kate’s forum — that’s where we’ll be handling all this.

FO Not-Friday: Hexipuffs!

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This is crazy, but today I … how can I put it? I finished my very last hexipuff.  I’m not making any more.  I have, um, something over 400 puffs.  I’ll count them eventually and report back.  Right now I’m buried in Fiber Factor knitting (say hey, my “intro video” is up — check it out!).  (I’m moderately mortified to film myself, but what can you do??) Anyway, back to puffs: I have a mad plan to take over the guest room bed, arrange the puffs the way I want, and then take my time tying them together. Wish me luck!

Here are the Final Seven Hexipuffs:

Last Seven Hexipuffs

Fiber Factor: Goodies

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Oh yay, we have permission to share a bit more about The Fiber Factor!  I was SO SO excited to get the first box.  You may have seen some of the sample yarns in the Knit Your Life Challenge video, but trust me when I say they are even more lovely when you can pet them and squeeze them and call them George.

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I was already familiar with a few of the yarns, but some were brand-new to me!  I have a serious crush on the Schoppel Leinen Los. It’s like twine on the ball, but it softens considerably with just a single swatch & block (hmm, wonder how I know that?).  I adore every long-color-change yarn on the planet, so of course the Shoppel Laceball 100, Shoppel Zauberwolle, and Zitron Unisono appealed to me quite a bit! The Zitron Finest Royal Alpaca is incredibly delicious to touch … I really must find a project that will use it!  The other yarn that really caught my eye (and fingers, let’s be honest here) was Zitron Filisilk.

Besides “just” the yarn, the good people at the Fiber Factor also sent us lucky semi-finalists a cool project bag (really excited to fill it with the first challenge project!), a binder full of color cards, the latest Skacel mag, and a #2 Sock Rocket circ.  I’ve somehow not heard of Sock Rockets — are they new?? am I just that dense?? — but they are great: extra pointy tips, nice flexible cable (hello, Magic Loop!), and that slick Addi Turbo finish.

I have swatched, I have ordered my yarn for the first challenge and selected my interchangeable needle set, and now I’m biding my time until the package arrives tomorrow! We’ll be able to share in-progress photos in the forums on the Fiber Factor website (they’ll be up later this week), so look for swatch and WIP photos from me there.

CO Monday: DIC Wisp design project

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Hooray! My design submission to Dream In Color was accepted.  I’m making a lace shawl: crescent-shaped, bottom up, with optional nupps — in two sizes no less! DIC’s new Wisp is super pretty — according to the Ravelry page for Wisp, they released this yarn in a different put-up as part of the 2012 yarn club. I for one am glad to have it become part of their line.  The hand-painted colors just glow on the merino-silk blend.

My design will be in the “Brilliant” colorway:

This isn’t Wisp, of course — some other base.  But I will show you WIP photos to prove it’s just as pretty on the lace-weight Wisp!

Once the pattern is complete and fully tested and tech edited, I’ll be hosting a knit-along on my Ravelry group.  It won’t be a mystery this time — you’ll know what you’re getting into! — but I will provide support, cheerleading, and prizes to help motivate you.  The full size of the design will use two skeins of Wisp, but the pattern will also provide directions for a scaled-down version that only needs one skein.