FO Friday: Sublime Rosewood

May 31, 2013May 9, 2013remilyknits 1 Comment

Available: $6 as a single pattern, or $26 for the 7-pattern collection

Yarn: madelinetosh Tosh Vintage in “Rosewood”

Beads: 6/0 Miyuki round seed beads; transparent lavender with AB finish

Man alive I have a serious designer crush on Sivia Harding. This is yet another awesome pattern from her mind. Love the stitch pattern, love how the decreases are hidden … love the sparing yet perfect use of beads! I knit this cowl as-written, even though the neck seemed a bit high … turns out I was right, since it crumples up when I wear it, but maybe I have a short neck and the fault is not with the pattern. Tosh Vintage is just as yummy as it always is.

Test knitters needed for “Mind the Gap” cowl

May 29, 2013remilyknits Leave a comment

Anyone up for a quick test knit? Check out this “in progress” photo of Mind the Gap:

(The prototype is blocking as we speak, getting ready for it’s big photo shoot.)

I’m running the test knit in the Remily Knits forum on Ravelry. Go there for more information and to sign up!

Fiber Factor: Challenge #2 in progress

May 27, 2013May 26, 2013remilyknits Leave a comment

It’s been just over a week since we “Swatchers” received our yarn for Challenge #2. I chose Simplicity, in seven different colors. My main color is gunmetal grey, to act as a background canvas for some extreme intarsia colorwork, using garter stitch and slipped stitches to achieve the look of a stained glass window. I was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s amazing stained glass windows, that incorporate natural themes while still being very mathematically appealing.

Want a sneak preview of my Challenge #2 Project? Go see photos at the Fiber Factor forums …

Some friends and I drove up to Manchester to tour the Zimmerman house, a FLW home that is almost 100% preserved as he designed it. Only 12 people may tour at a time, and you have to buy tickets in advance. Once on site we wore booties while in the home, and were instructed to TOUCH NOTHING. We were literally walking through a work of art – what an amazing building! I’m not sure I could do as the Zimmerman’s did, and live for decades as part of this work of art … but I surely admire them. Many aspects of the home reminded me of the house my Grandpa Bob built, by hand, out of local limestone in Cannon Falls, MN. The local materials, the wide-open living spaces, and the blurring of inside and outside … here are some photos I took in 2000, when we visited when my oldest son was a baby.

FO Friday: Early Grey Lattice

May 24, 2013May 9, 2013remilyknits 4 Comments

Project: Early Grey Lattice

Pattern: Lattice

Designer: Rose Beck

Available: $5 as a single pattern, or $13 for the 4-pattern collection

Yarn: madelinetosh Tosh DK in “Earl Grey”

Love the yarn, love the project. I did extra repeats of the lower border to use up as much yarn as possible. I found both stitch patterns intuitive and fun. My only complaint is that the garter stitch lower edge seems to flare a bit on my shawl … maybe more strenuous blocking is in order?

New Pattern Release: Levade

May 23, 2013remilyknits 3 Comments

Introducing my latest pattern: Levade!

Pattern: Levade

Designer: Rachel Henry (that’s me!)

Available: on Ravelry — $6 for the individual pattern, or $15 for the collection

Yarn: Bohemia Fibers Barefoot Bohemian Sock, Peacock #3 (sample used 450 yards of an oversized skein)

Design/Skills Needed:

Levade is a heart-shaped shawl worked from the bottom edge up. Beginning with a very long cast-on edge, the lace swoops through alternating waves, leaves, and medallion motifs. The faster-than-usual decreases create a beautiful shape that clings well to shoulders.

Levade 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 “Mezair” (lace border worked sideways, crescent-shaped, short-row body).

FO Friday: Purple Gusher Socks

May 17, 2013May 9, 2013remilyknits 3 Comments

Project: Purple Gushers

Pattern: GUSH

Designer: Yarnissima

Available: €4.00 EUR on Ravelry

Yarn: CEY Alpaca Sox in “Byzantine Purple”

This is the second of five pairs of socks that I’m making for my mom. Alpaca Sox is fuzzy and warm, and the pattern was fun. Every row is charted on these toe-up socks, which I loved! I had a little trouble following the transition from pattern to rib at the top of the leg, and with both socks I had to fudge it a bit. I chalk this up to a failing in my understanding of the “sizing” directions (three sizes are shown on each chart). Cool pattern, great yarn. Next!

Fiber Factor: Evolution on Ravelry

May 14, 2013remilyknits 4 Comments

We’ve been given permission to put our Challenge #1 patterns for The Fiber Factor on Ravelry! Obviously this is just a placeholder for now — the pattern isn’t available for purchase just yet.

Go check out Evolution!

Skacel has exclusive rights for a while, but when rights revert to me I will publish on Ravelry. If you’d like a PM when the pattern does become available (either through Skacel or, later, through Remily Knits), please leave a comment on the pattern page.

Thank you!

P.S. Challenge #2 details will be out an 9am Pacific time — the video will go up on the Challenge #2 page at the same time that the competitors get the information.

Fiber Factor: Challenge #1 Results

May 14, 2013remilyknits 2 Comments

Have you watched the judging episode for The Fiber Factor? My presentation is at about minute 14 …

Of course I’m sad that I didn’t win, but I’m looking forward to using the feedback from the judges in the next challenge. Of all the projects, my top three were Talitha’s striped top (with rocks), Jodie’s big blue throw, and Jennette’s cabled coat. I’m glad that own of my faves won! Congrats to Tal!

Now that Challenge #1 is over, I’m allowed to share a few more photos of my project. To see them, go to my forum on the Fiber Factor website!

Fiber Factor: Goodies for Challenge #2

May 13, 2013remilyknits Leave a comment

My box for Challenge #2 of The Fiber Factor came Saturday!

We have a choice of two yarns for Challenge #2: Simplicity, and Simpliworsted. The package included full color cards and two skeins of each yarn. Thank you to Skacel for the little extras! Heartstopper end caps for the Addi Click sets — hooray! And a nice 4×4 gauge measuring device too.

I’ve already played a bit with both weights of yarn — I will likely choose the finer gauge (Simplicity), unless Challenge #2 is “king size blankets” or “yarnbomb your home.”

This is all helping me stay calm while I wait (hrrrmmmmmm waiting is hard!) for the Results Show for Challenge #1 — debuting at 4pm PDT, aka 7pm at my house. I have some knitter friends joining me in person and via the phone to help me survive the waiting!

CO Monday: Blue Yonder Lambton, Olive Medallion Socks

May 13, 2013May 9, 2013remilyknits Leave a comment

Having finished one pair of socks for my mom, on to the next! This time the yarn is Claudia Hand-Painted in a lovely shade of olive. I chose Andrea Fox’s pattern Medallion Lace Socks. I decided to do these ones two-at-a-time, and I’m already done with both cuffs. Yay!

I also dug up some old-ish sweater stash: two batches of Shadow Tonal in Blue Yonder. I bought this is two chunks … which means I have two different dye lots. In person, they look the same, but from experience I know that sometimes even “same-looking” yarn will make an ugly line of demarcation in a finished object. I should be ok though, because I plan to knit with this yarn mostly double-stranded, so I can easily take one ball from each dye lot and thus avert any dye lot lines.

I’m making a Lambton Top (Theressa Silver) from the 2011 Jane Austen Knits. Instead of trying to find a lace-weight and DK weight in the same colorway (or using stripes like some knitters have), I am using single-stranded Shadow for the laceweight portion, and double-stranded Shadow for the DK portion. So far, so good! I’ve read in other people’s project notes that the neck can be too big … for now, I’m making it as-written. I used a crochet cast-on, so it will be easy to go back and add some more fabric if I don’t like the size of the neckline.