Category New Pattern Release

New Pattern Release: Crushed

remilyknits 5 Comments

Introducing my latest pattern: Crushed!

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Pattern: Crushed

Designer: Rachel Henry (that’s me!)

Available: $6 as a single pattern/ $10 as part of the Lovelorn Collection

Yarn: Mind’s Eye Yarns Merino/Tencel or any fingering-weight yarn — uses about 400 yards

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Design/Skills Needed:

This heart-shaped shawlette is worked top-down. The graceful wings hug your shoulders – this is a shawl that doesn’t slip off easily. The lace pattern of the body evolves into a nupp-enhanced lower border.

The main body pattern repeats every 24 rows, making it simple to customize the size and use more or less yarn. The sample was made with about 390 yards, and was 16” deep and about 45” around the neck edge.

The sample drapes beautifully in a merino/tencel blend, hand-painted by Lucy at Mind’s Eye Yarns in Cambridge, MA. This pattern will work best with solid or tonal colorway; anything more than mild variegation will likely be at odds with the lace pattern.

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Crushed is part of the Lovelorn collection. Each of three shawlettes in the collection can be made with a single skein of fingering-weight yarn. Look for Heartsick (lace border worked sideways, crescent-shaped, short-row body) and Broken (top-down, half-circle, texture and lace).

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New Pattern Release: Heartsick

remilyknits 3 Comments

Introducing my latest pattern: Heartsick!

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Pattern: Heartsick

Designer: Rachel Henry (that’s me!)

Available: $6 as a single pattern/ $10 as part of the Lovelorn Collection

Yarn: BMFA Socks That Rock Lightweight or any fingering-weight yarn — uses about 300 yards

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Design/Skills Needed:

This crescent shawlette begins with a narrow lace border. The heart motif is set off by a looped edge and an open-work net pattern. Stitches picked up from the border form the body of the shawlette, which is worked with short rows and finished with a decorative row of eyelets. The pattern uses basic increases and decreases, plus a 3-in-1 increase, k3tog, and s2kp.

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Heartsick is designed with colorful  yarn in mind. Variable stitch count in the border and the short rows in the body both help fight pooling. The strong pattern shines through tonal and moderately variegated colorways.

Heartsick is part of the Lovelorn collection.  Each of three shawlettes in the collection can be made with a single skein of fingering-weight yarn. Look for “Crushed” (top-down, heart-shaped, lace and nupps) and “Broken” (top-down, half-circle, texture and lace).

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New Pattern Release: Eye of the Storm

remilyknits 10 Comments

I’m pleased to announce the publication of my latest pattern, Eye of the Storm!

Pattern: Eye of the Storm

Designer: Rachel Henry (that’s me!)

Available: $5 on Ravelry

Yarn: Schoppel-wolle Zauberwolle (one 100-gram ball)

This triple-layered scarf has been swirling in my head for the better part of a year. It started as an “I wonder if I can …” kind of question. In this case, the question was this: “I wonder if I can knit something with three different layers, all at the same time, without seams or any other tricks?” Could it be done? Yes!

Imagine the scarf as viewed from the end, with three legs. Trace the direction of knitting outward on a leg, then back inwards, then outward again on the next leg, then inwards again – each leg is worked out-then-in, and the legs are worked in order, counterclockwise.  I thought I might need three circular needles – one for each leg? – but as it turned out, by swapping needles in and out and the end of each leg-row, the three legs can be created with only two circular needles.  (The mathematician in my soul wonders if this means a scarf with N layers requires N-1 circular needles….)

Each layer in Eye of the Storm has the same lace edging. The layers are three different widths, revealing the lace on each layer. The unusual construction takes advantage of the long color repeats in Zauberwolle: because the layers are worked simultaneously, the color changes line up perfectly.

Many thanks to the lovely and cooperative Sara, who modeled Eye of the Storm for me.

Want to see how it’s accomplished?  Check out my video and photo tutorial.

 

New Pattern Release: Full Bloom Bag

remilyknits 1 Comment

Introducing my latest pattern: Full Bloom Bag!

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Pattern: Full Bloom Bag

Designer: Rachel Henry (that’s me!)

Available: $3.99 at Knit Picks / $4.50 on Ravelry

Yarn: Knit Picks Palette in three shades of green, and three shades of pink

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Design/Skills Needed: This cute little bag packs a lot of knitting technique into a single project: stranded colorwork, steeking, and applied i-cord work together to create a colorful bag inspired by old-fashioned wallpaper.

In order to achieve the vertical stripes on the finished bag, the body is worked sideways, in the round, using stranded colorwork to make the stripes and roses. The body is then steeked and the first and last rows are grafted. The bottom is worked in the round from picked-up stitches, and the top edges are finished with applied i-cord, which is then extended into i-cord handles.

Directions for a simple lining are included in the pattern, but (dear reader) you may remember I blogged about how I sewed a lining with built-in pockets. If you make this bag, I urge you to give pockets a try!

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The bottom of the bag has mitered corners in garter stitch — sturdy and perfectly square.

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I had a really hard time letting go of this sample so it could sojourn to Knit Picks for review.  I am anxiously awaiting it’s return, so it can be my cute purse and project bag for some time to come!

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New Pattern Release: Canobie Cable Socks

remilyknits 3 Comments

Introducing my latest pattern: Canobie Cable Socks!

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Pattern: Canobie Cable Socks

Designer: Rachel Henry (that’s me!)

Available: $2.99 at Knit Picks / $3.50 on Ravelry

Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Springtime

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Design/Skills Needed: The sinuous twisted-stitch cables that undulate around the leg and instep of these socks evoke the roller coasters at my favorite family amusement park: Canobie Lake Park. They are top-down socks with a traditional heel-flap and gusset. The cable pattern is unbroken around the leg and continues seamlessly into a ribbed heel and twines over the instep to the toe.

Because of the complex cables, this sock is not easily re-sized by changing the stitch count. Rather, the knitter is advised to go up or down a needle size to achieve a different leg circumference.

The cable pattern is charted, but full written directions are also provided for the knitter who prefers to knit from words. The pattern is technique-neutral — I hold no religious preference regarding DPNs, two circs, Magic Loop, tiny circs, etc. when I write patterns.

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Many thanks to my friend’s little girl, Sara, who modeled the socks for me.  I have extra-large, square-toed feet (thank you, Dutch ancestors) — not exactly the prettiest things to be shoving into socks for show. She had the perfect shoes to go with them, and as soon as the sample socks are back from Knit Picks, they will go home with Sara.

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Inspiration: An age and an eon ago, I spotted a cool sweater while standing in line at Canobie Lake Park.  I took a surreptitious photo of the woman’s sweater … I hope she didn’t think I was stalking her.  But the cables were neat! 🙂 They reminded me of the roller coasters.   I swatched and swatched and eventually tamed the pattern to the much-smaller canvas of socks.

2257 cool cabled sweater spotted at Canobie

Here is my first draft:

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I think the final version is more refined and lively! 🙂

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New Pattern Release: Endgame Stole

remilyknits 6 Comments

Introducing my latest pattern: Endgame!

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Pattern: Endgame

Designer: Rachel Henry (that’s me!)

Available: Booklet #9207 from Classic Elite

Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns Wool Bam Boo in Garnet (4 balls)

This is my first pattern published in the CEY booklets — I’m so pleased to be included! Check out the drape of this stole in the modeled photo:

Design/Skills Needed: This fully-reversible stole is worked flat. The woven pattern is achieved with increases/decreases and dropped stitches.  I added a lacy edge with a full column of dropped stitches. Twisted stitches on either side of each dropped-stitch panel keeps the look sharp and the dropped-stitches open. The overall effect is stunning, and the Wool Bam Boo is silky-soft to touch. I love, love, love this yarn.

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I used my “interchangeable cable ” trick to block this stole.  Before washing, I threaded a long cable through each loop on both edges.  I screwed on the end caps to make sure the cables didn’t fall out, and put the stole in for a good long soak.  After squeezing out the water, I stretched out the stole on my blocking board (aka, old alphabet letter foam squares).  I put pins in every two inches or so, pulling against the cable — not the individual stitches.  Using the cables meant a lot fewer pins to get the “fully stretched” effect, and also gave a more even blocking overall.

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New Pattern Release: Elderberry Lace Cardigan

remilyknits 2 Comments

Introducing my latest pattern: the Elderberry Lace Cardigan! This lacy cardi is a simple and elegant layering piece, perfect for cheering up a cool fall day. Zig-zag eyelets rise in narrow columns over the skirt, body, and sleeves.  Think airy, feminine, and colorful. Here’s a photo of the sample sweater on my deck at home …

Elderberry Lace Cardi (Rachel Henry)

… and here’s a photo on the model for the UK magazine “KNIT” (issue #49)!

I’m especially proud to report that my cute spring cardi made the cover of the magazine:

Pattern: Elderberry Lace Cardigan

Designer: Rachel Henry

Available: on newsstands in KNIT #49 (pattern will also be available for individual download late in 2012)

Yarn: Sidar Simply Recycled DK

Design/Skills Needed:  The body is worked in a single piece to the armholes. The waist is nipped in by using a slipped-stitch pattern (rather than shaping), and is secured by a single large button. Set-in sleeves are worked from the top down from picked-up stitches; short-row shaping creates the sleeve caps. Hem, neck, and sleeves are finished with an easy ribbed eyelet worked as you go.  Finishing is limited to shoulder seams, sewing on a button, and weaving in loose ends.

I love the button I found for this cardi:

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Here’s my concept sketch, for the truly curious:

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New Pattern Release: Mhara Baby Blanket

remilyknits 4 Comments

Introducing my latest pattern: Mhara Baby Blanket! Mhara means “sea” in Gaelic.

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Pattern: Mhara Baby Blanket

Designer: Rachel Henry (that’s me!)

Available: for $1.99 through Knit Picks IDP or $2.50 on Ravelry

Yarn: Knit Picks Brava Bulky in Tranquil

Design/Skills Needed: This fully reversible baby blanket is worked on the bias in garter stitch. Step-wise increases and decreases are embellished as you go with crocheted waves. Explicit directions for stroller- and crib-sized blankets are given, but the pattern is easily adapted for larger or smaller blankets. This pattern includes complete photo tutorials for the step-wise increases and the crocheted embellishment. For ease of printing, these tutorials appear at the end of the pattern. Experienced knitters may print just page 2 for complete pattern with no extraneous photos or information.

Familiarity with crocheting is helpful, but not necessary. Almost any yarn will work with this pattern, provided you use appropriately-sized needles.

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New Patterns Released: Twins and Entwined, Cabled Mug Cozies

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Announcing my two latest patterns: Twins and Entwined, two cabled mug cozies!  Both are available FREE on Ravelry, so go download a copy today.

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I designed this pair of patterns for my upcoming “Intro to Cabling” class at the Hub Mills Store. The class is two hours long and costs $20.  I’m offering it twice in the near future, on Saturday, April 21st, and Saturday, May 19th, from 10AM – noon.  “Twins” is the simpler of the two patterns, intended for the knitter who is totally new to cables.  “Entwined” is a bit more complex (though not as much as you might think!), meant for a knitter who has done a bit of cabling before, or an adventurous novice.

If you’d like to take my class, call (978) 408-2176 or email yarn@hubmillsstore.com to reserve a seat.

Both cozies take less than 50 yards of worsted-weight yarn, plus two buttons, and can be finished in a single day.  Both are also appropriate for learning how to cable without a cable needle — something I will also teach in class, because I think it makes cabling SO much quicker and easier.

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New Pattern Release: Flurry Sweater

remilyknits 2 Comments

Introducing my latest pattern: the Flurry Sweater! This two-color pullover features a band of colorwork snowflakes at the waist and elbow, waist-shaping, flared sleeves and hem, and i-cord finish on all edges.

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Pattern: Flurry Sweater

Designer: Rachel Henry (that’s me!)

Available: for $3.99 through Knit Picks IDP

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Tweed

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Inspiration: I have this old sweater, a favorite that I’ve had a long time.  It’s pilled and felted from incautious laundering, but I still love to wear it. I picked the things I liked best about it (grey on top, blue on the bottom, colorwork band) and improved it a bit too (more fitted waist, set-in sleeves).

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Design/Skills Needed: The body is knit in-the-round until the armholes, after which the front and back are worked flat, separately. The sleeves are also knit in the round until the sleeve cap, which is worked flat. Knitters may select their preferred in-the-round method (DPNs, one circ, magic loop, two circs, etc.) throughout.

For the colorwork section, I recommend going down one needle size, as many knitters find their colorwork to be looser than their stockinette. However, it’s possible that you may need to stay with the same needle, or even go up a size, to maintain consistent gauge between the stockinette and colorwork portions. Please work a gauge swatch in both stockinette and the colorwork pattern to determine the best needle size for you, for each section.

When working stranded colorwork, take care to keep the floats loose behind the work. When gaps larger than 5 sts must be bridged, catch the float halfway through the gap to keep things tidy. The colorwork sections are charted.

Yarn: Almost any worsted-weight yarn will work with this pattern. I recommend the darkest color for the bottom, a medium value for the top, and the lightest for the snowflakes.

I would be delighted to answer any questions or help any knitters working on this project.