New Pattern Release: Broken

December 19, 2012December 19, 2012remilyknits 1 Comment

Introducing my latest pattern: Broken!

Pattern: Broken

Designer: Rachel Henry (that’s me!)

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

Yarn: Bohemia Fibers Barefoot Bohemian Sock or any fingering-weight yarn — uses about 450 yards

Design/Skills Needed:

This semi-circular shawlette is worked top-down. Four textured panels extend like spokes of a wheel, interrupted by broken-mesh wedges. The broad cast-on edge curves around your neck, and the full shape hugs shoulders like a shrug. The textured panels use a combination of slipped stitches, twisted stitches, and knit/purl patterns to create a faux cable. The lace panels use yarn-overs, ssk, and s2kp (a double decrease).

The pattern can be extended or shortened in 10-row increments, making it simple to customize the size and use more or less yarn.

The sample shows off the unusual “Walker” colorway by independent dyer Bohemia Fibers. Amy has a knack for creating beautiful and unusual colorways, and is especially well-known for her “inspiration” colorways.

Broken 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 Crushed (top-down, heart-shaped, lace and nupps).

New Pattern Release: Crushed

December 5, 2012December 5, 2012remilyknits 5 Comments

Introducing my latest pattern: Crushed!

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

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.

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).

New Pattern Release: Heartsick

November 15, 2012November 15, 2012remilyknits 3 Comments

Introducing my latest pattern: Heartsick!

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

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.

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).

FREE Mystery KAL: Lace Shawlette

October 24, 2012October 24, 2012remilyknits 9 Comments

I am very excited to announce my very first Mystery Knit-Along: Crushed.

As I have mentioned, I am working on a three-pattern collection of lace shawlettes. Each one is made from a single skein of sock-weight yarn. I’ve finished the samples and written the patterns for the first two, and I’m in the process of testing them. The third will be done soon. I will be offering one of the patterns FREE as part of a Mystery KAL during the month of November.

I would like to invite all my readers to join this KAL. I will be hosting it in the Remily Knits forum on Ravelry.

Here’s a rough schedule:

available now: Pre-Clue (a swatch pattern)
Nov 8th: Clue #1 (setup and first few rows)
Nov 15th: Clue #2 (main body pattern)
Nov 22nd: Clue #3 (border)

Cast-On Monday: Lace Project the Second, a Hat Re-do, and Peacock-Blue Mariposa

September 24, 2012September 23, 2012remilyknits 2 Comments

Alas, my Pebbled Beanie in William Morris Tosh Light just didn’t look right. I frogged back to the ribbing, because I still wanted a hat. I surfed Ravelry a bit, found something that inspired me, and I’m winging it from there. Here’s the first few rounds — basically I’m doing a simple travelling knit stitch on a reverse stockinette background. I plan to have the direction zig and zag “some” — should be cool. I still love the yarn.

Today a friend came over to knit. We sat outside on the deck in the cool September sun and knit while our dogs rambled around the yard — in other words, nearly idyllic afternoon! I couldn’t resist the lure of casting on Something New. So, I wound my new lace Madelinetosh in Turquoise and started a Mariposa.

I guess I must have contracted cast-on-itis today, because I also wound the yarn and cast on for the second lace shawlette in a planned set-of-three series. What can I say, inspiration hit me like a bag of bricks! 🙂 Here is the pretty hand-dyed merino/tencel from Mind’s Eye that I’m using for this design project (the puppy helped me shop):

Tips and Tricks: Knitting Multiple Layers Simultaneously

August 22, 2012remilyknits 8 Comments

I recently had a brainstorm … you know the kind. I wondered, was it possible to knit, say, a three-layered scarf, with all three layers worked at the same time — no seams or anything else — so that I could use a slow-color-change yarn with different-width layers and have the colors change at the same rate? Well, I had a vision of circular needles flopping and changing, and I made it work!

I’m releasing “Eye of The Storm” any minute now on Ravelry — watch this space for an official announcement on Friday. In the meantime, here’s a quick video and photo tutorial of how it works:

These photos show the scarf in progress…

#1 — Ready to knit the wrong side of the long leg — outbound from the center spine. Note that the needle tips match — the same circ is used to work the outbound legs, always.

#2 — A view of the back of the work — the long leg is next up to be worked, the middle leg is hanging off the back of the scarf, and the short leg has just been worked.

#3 — At the end of the outbound leg, drop the circ you just freed up …

#4 — …. turn the work ….

#5 — …. and pick up the far end of the other circ.

#6 — Work the right side of the long leg — inbound towards the center spine. Notice that the needle tips do NOT match — on inbound legs you always use two different circs.

#7 — When you finish the inbound leg, push the stitches for the short leg (now the “hanging off the back” leg) onto the cable of that circ.

#8 — Push the stitches for the middle leg (the next leg to be worked) up onto the tip of the circ. Ready for the next leg!

Tips and Tricks: Bag Lining with Built-in Pockets

June 27, 2012June 25, 2012remilyknits 4 Comments

One of my upcoming patterns is the Full Bloom Bag — a cute little colorwork bag that packs a lot of knitting technique into a single project. The body of the bag is worked in the round using stranded colorwork to make the stripes and roses. The body is then steeked and the beginning and end are grafted so that the stripes go vertically on the finished bag. 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.

I made a lining with pockets, because it seemed like the right thing to do:

The Method to my Madness:

The bag dimensions are 6″x6″x3″. I decided to use a half-inch seam in all cases, to make the math easier. I used a single fat quarter for the lining, and less than half a yard of heavy-duty interfacing. The

For the bottom, I cut a 4″x7″ piece of fabric and a 3″x6″ piece of interfacing. For the body, I cut a 14″x19″ piece of fabric, a 6″x18″ piece of interfacing (for the body itself), and a 3″x18″ piece of interfacing (for the pocket).

I would have preferred fusible interfacing, but I also wanted the sturdiest interfacing I could get, so I had to settle for non-fusible and sew it in myself. For the bottom, I just centered the interfacing on the fabric, then stitched all the way around the edge. For the body, I placed the two pieces as shown below, and stitched them in place.

I pressed a half-inch hem along the top edge. Next, I folded up the pocket. First I pressed from this side, so that the interfacing was just in the fold:

Then I flipped it over and pressed it so that the raw edge exactly met the fold:

Here you can see all three layers:

I sewed a hem along the top edge to keep it in place. Next, I sewed vertical seams at the corners — measuring from the right, the seams are at 3.5″, 9.5″, and 12.5″:

I seamed the body first, then set in the bottom:

The finished lining, which I hand-sewed into the bag (whip-stitched just under the i-cord edging):

Cast-On Monday: What are YOU working on?

May 21, 2012February 5, 2013remilyknits 2 Comments

Guess how many new projects I cast on in the last few weeks? Other than my little pink pig, zero.

I have a good excuse though! I’ve been working hard the last week or so on getting proposals ready for two different calls for submission. For Classic Elite’s Spring 2013 call, I’m submitting a cute little cardigan in Provence, and a classic triangular shawl in Soft Linen. Meanwhile, Knit Picks put out a call for their very first IDP collection for Late Winter/Spring 2013. For that call, I’m submitting a lacy short-sleeved top in Cotlin, and a short-row crescent lace shawl in Alpaca Cloud. Of course I would be Super Excited if my submissions are picked up, but I’m also aware that the deadlines will be all on top of each other. In the unlikely event that all four proposals are accepted, I will need my needles clear and ready to go.

So, here’s my question to you, dear reader:

What have YOU cast on in the last two weeks or so? What new and fabulous projects are rocking your needles?

New Pattern Release: Elderberry Lace Cardigan

May 2, 2012May 1, 2012remilyknits 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 …

… 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:

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

New Pattern Release: Mhara Baby Blanket

April 18, 2012April 18, 2012remilyknits 4 Comments

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

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.