3 Needle Bind-off Tutorial

I’ve just uploaded a .pdf with step-by-step instructions for the 3-Needle Bind-off to the PurpleSage website.

You can download it for free.

The finished sample picture of the 3-needle bind-off is of one variation of the Yin Yang Modular Sweater (sizes 6 months – 4 years). This one uses Bernat Handicrafters Cotton Ultrasoft in Hot Green and Summer Prints. The pattern is posted for sale at Ravelry.com today.

I thought I would revisit this really interesting and useful design tool: the DeGraeve Color Generator
OK, I admit, I wanted a break from the pattern editing

I took a few pictures in the garden over the past few weeks and so thought I’d see if I like the palettes the generator produced.

The test subjects: Poppies, Obedience Plant (purple) and Flax.

The poppies have a background of violet leaves.

The Obedience Plant has the lawn and corner of the woodshed in the background (and yes, it’s fully stocked for the coming winter — at least 7 full cords of dried hardwood).

The flax is overhanging a rock edging and wooden deck.

I love playing with colour!

Celtic Jenna Rose is finished!

Well, at least the sample is done!!

This picture is actually before I started the straps but gives you the idea. I will have to wait for daylight to take the final pictures.

Now I’m off to Ravelry to take this project out of hibernation and to ask for a couple of test knitters to verify my scribbles

Now the process of rewriting the draft pattern, editing in all of my scribbles that I made while I was knitting the sample and doing the final formatting and adding publishable pictures begins.

And just in case you think that will be an easy process, here are a couple of pictures of my rough pattern — it always starts out so neat!

Don’t stab yourself

The top I’m currently knitting has some cabling and what to do with that extra needle (I must confess I don’t always use a cable needle — sometimes just and extra dp) when it’s not in use? (I know some fearless knitters do it without cable needles, but for me somehow that method extremely cumbersome and slow.)

And then just the other day, as I was removing this hairband from my ponytail and wrapped it around my wrist for temporary storage — aha!!!!

Now, I’ve tried this with some other ponytail holders that were all fabric on the outside and did not meet with great success — the needle ended up under the cushions of my favourite chair — again

However, this particular hairband has the elastic stitching on the inside of the band (you can see the dark lines in the first picture) and so provides some grip to hold the needle.

Pattern: Celtic Jenna Rose and Stash

Lighting
A good illustration of the effect of lighting; these two pictures are the same yarn – different time of day, different location. The swatch (yes, I do swatch!) at left is the truer colour representation.

Soy Yarn
The yarn is Bernat Soy Natural Blends, a very soft and wonderful to work with yarn. It is 50/50 soy/acyrlic.

The Beginning
This is the design that started it all! I saw a quilt design that I wanted to translate into a centerpiece for a top or sweater. And thanks to dd, and a few trial and error samples, this celtic rose is the result.

For some mysterious reason — and I really can’t explain it, but I know you’ve been there — it has been hibernating for months. There were too many other ideas and yarns — and when yarn speaks, we must listen!!!

However, I had promised myself that I would resurrect the Celtic Jenna Rose and finish the pattern. I am currently knitting the straps and then the pattern rewriting begins anew.

I did type up a draft pattern for this one, and most of the top is charted, so I have to decide what will be included in the final pattern. And, you know, it’s much easier to follow all those little notes, scribbles and squirks when you first make them as opposed to 9 months later!!

But I already have 3 partial patterns waiting…..

Stash

1. the Peony Cotton Comfort (bottom, pink) has, of course, become the Lepiota adult tam (see previous post) and another Baby Mushroom Cap is in the works with the remainder
2. the aran-coloured Frog Tree Meriboo (right) has a charted pattern and the knitting has begun (something for a wee one)
3. the Rowan DK (left, Rust) is calling me
4. the Fleece Artist Somoko (top, seagreen) will be paired with a skein of Somoko Blue Lagoon for another design that I’ve already swatched with a really interesting stitch combination — it’s looking really good!

High Speed and Lepiota Tam Pattern

Joining the Present
Yes, folks, high speed internet has reached this little rural burg in the “mountains” of Nova Scotia (I know people with real mountains will laugh at our terminology, but you work with what you’ve got

Purchasing PurpleSage Patterns
To make things a little simpler, rather than putting patterns on this blog and my website, I will put links on this blog so you can access all of the PurpleSage knitting patterns on the PurpleSage Designs website.

Lepiota

The newest release: This sprite-ly tam looks intricate but is so easy. It is knit in the round in a DK-weight organic cotton/wool blend and features purl arcs on a knit background. No seams – only 2 ends to weave in!

The Peony colourway is perfect for lifting your spirits on a blustery day.

Adult Sizes: XS, S, M, L

The Baby/Child version of this tam is the Gomphidius Violet /Gomphidius Swath pattern (2 in 1) so it’s easy to make matching tams for you and your little one.

See more pictures and information at the PurpleSage Designs website.

New Pattern: Sneak Preview

Adult Tam Pattern
Here’s a sneak preview of the newest PupleSage pattern. It’s an adult tam in sizes XS to L and should be available through Ravelry soon. (Yarn: Green Mountain Spinnery Cotton Comfort 20% organic cotton, 80% wool)

New Free Tutorials
I’ve posted a few new free tutorials on the PurpleSage Designs website:
1) Sewn Bind-off in the Round
2) I-cord
3) How to save disk space by using Document Versions in MS_Word

New Magazines
The Fall2008 Vogue Knitting magazine had a huge Canadian section this time – yeah! The “local” resources and profiles were great to see!

And speaking of magazines, the Fall2008 Interweave Knits has a profile on Kate Gilbert ( a favourite of mine) — the Pearl Buck Swing Jacket (IK Winter 2005) is on my ToDo list

Back Porch Musings

It’s 30 degrees Celsius (that’s hot for those of you who are metrically challenged) and I’m sitting in the shade on the back porch knitting (finishing the sample for the adult version of the Gomphidius Swath tam). I don’t think that the saying “It’s too hot to knit” has a speck of truth in it!

As I sat, taking in the sounds of our woodland — a light breeze gently rustling leaves, crickets chirping, bumble bees busily gathering nectar from the Obedience plants, dragonflies doing what dragonflies do, a hummingbird droning by — I looked up at one of our Lombardy poplars and saw 4 rather interesting birds. Luckily they stayed long enough to be captured on film! I’m new to birdwatching, so I pulled out our trusty Birds of Nova Scotia book and am pretty sure that these beauties were Northern Flickers. Fascinating!

The ?Secret? is out….well, almost

?Secret? Baby Sweater Pattern
If you’ve been reading all along, you know this pattern has been in the works for a little while. It always amazes me how much time passes from the time I get the idea, get it on paper, write it up, have it test knit, rewrite, have it tech edited, rewrite, take pictures, create the publishable pdf — ok, I guess the amount of time shouldn’t surprise me!

This new design (which should be ready in another week or so) is a modular baby sweater. I thought since there’s a picture of it in the header of the blog I might as well share here too.

The green picture is a close up of the cabling and the white is a close up of the cuff.

I’ll post details when the pattern goes up for sale.

Currently in the Works
The Pink Tam: still haven’t had time to finish writing that pattern up
Adult Gomphidius Swath: I’m almost done the sample and the rough draft of the pattern is finished
Meriboo Baby Sweater: The design is finished and graphed on paper, I have calculated the multiple sizing, and I reworked the heart design. That went well but ended up too large for the area where I wanted to use it, so I worked out a smaller version.

Plus we’re painting the trim on the house!

Recycling – not! or A $2.40 Lesson

So disappointed!

The lovely knit silk top I wrote about on Friday will not become anything from my needles!

I carefully hand-washed it and laid it flat to dry. But once it was dry — there was that “distinctive” silk odour (which I’m told some people like but I think smells like bad fish). Now, I checked for that odour when I purchased the top and it was not present. Hmmm, a conundrum — maybe the recommended dry cleaning would avoid this phenomenon. Too sad — not about to go there.