It’s sure been a while since my last pattern so I’m more than happy to introduce Bahaal!

Meaning’ restored’ in Hindi, this easy going crescent shaped shawl was designed at a time when I needed interesting but comfortable knitting. I worked with simple sections of stockinette stitch and dropped yarn overs, and geeked out using the Fibonacci sequence to arrange them. The Fibonacci sequence, if you’re not familiar with it, is sequence found over and over again in nature and extremely pleasing to the eye, and turns out for some very therapeutic knitting too!

The main sample was worked in Flying Fiber’s amazing British fiber wool ‘Yorkshire Medley‘, and calls for four skeins of this gorgeous DK weight. Is it a long wool yarn – an equal blend of Bluefaced Leicester and Wensleydale fibers – and carries a natural sheen, loft, and softness. Like this most shawls, it really comes to life when blocked!

This pattern is very adaptable and a wide range of substitute yarns would work with this design. For a second sample we used Fern Fiber‘s local Suffolk/Alpaca blend and a looser gauge for a huge, flowing shawl. I’m a major fan of this yarn having knit up my very own Stories from Snoqualmie Shawl (need to post FO shots!), and if you ever get a chance to get their hands on this seasonal yarn I highly recommend it!

Bahaal is 20% off until September 24th, using code “Autumn” at ravelry check out! Happy Autumn!
Yarn 4 skeins Flying Fibers Yarn Company Yorkshire Medley; 100% British Wool; 262 yds/240 m, 100g, shown in “Whitby Shale”.
or 1022 yds/935 m in DK weight yarn.
Needles & Notions: US 6/4 mm 30”/76 cm circular needle, or size needed to obtain gauge.
Stitch markers, tapestry needle.
Gauge 16 stitches x 32 rows = 4”/10cm in Stockinette Stitch BLOCKED
Measurements:96“/244 cm wide, 30 “/76 cm deep.

Last week Interweave put out a new book; The Knitted Hat Book, and I’m excited to share the two patterns I contributed!

The first is the Squall Colorwork Beanie, knit up using Quince and Co’s wonderfully soft and squishy Owl. The colourwork pattern is reminiscent of snow, or rain, falling from the crown. Owl’s wide selection of colours allows for many combinations to really make it your own! This unisex design gets a lot of use in our house as Mister is happy to grab it on the way out as I am. It is written up in three sizes to fit 16½–18 (18¼–20, 20–22)” head circumference, and calls for just two skeins of tweedy Owl.

The second hat I designed for the book was such a luxury knit, using A Verb for Keeping Warm’s Floating. This hat, the Locality Slip-Stitch Slouch, features a waffly slip stitch pattern I absolutely love. The fit is relaxed, and controlled by using different needle sizes. This hat also comes in three sizes to fit 18¾–20¾ (21–23¼, 23½–25½)” head circumference, and uses just one skein of AVFKW’s Alpaca/Silk/Cashmere blend Floating.

As always, so happy to support amazing companies providing us with fiber and colour conscious yarns!

You can find The Knitted Hat Book, in print and digital download on Interweave’s site.

Here it is on Amazon.

Very excited to share that I will be part of A Verb for Keeping Warm’s Pro-Verbial Club this year! Sign ups for new members are open and I have a feeling you’ll want in!

This is the 7th (seventh?!) year of AVFKW’s wonderful Pro-Verbial Club – a club that sends out 4 shipments a year, each including an exclusive pattern and exclusive club colorway! This year it’s a big one and members will receive more yarn than previous years, and you’ll be able to sample a range of their wonderful US grown and milled yarns, CA specific yarns as well as Verb’s classics. What’s neat about this club is that you can also opt for a fiber option where you will receive equivalent fiber in the same content and exclusive colourway as the pattern calls for, and you can spin your own! Great if you’re looking to stretch your spinning skills this year. Dyers notes talking more about the yarn, fiber and dye used will also be included, as well as a lovely discount for all other regularly priced merchandise sold at Verb!

What’s more is that I have the honor of designing once more alongside my wonderful friends and talented designers – Andrea Mowry of DreaRenee Knits, Ashley Yousling of Woolful and Julie Weisenberger of Cocoknits.

There is early bird pricing until Aug 15th, so I recommend you get ahead of the game! Sign ups close early September. More information and sign ups go here!!!

Last Autumn I had the pleasure of releasing a pattern with the then new Knittin’ Little – a quarterly collection of patterns for kids. Each season Knittin’ Little publishes an array of knitting patterns, from sweaters to accessories, by your favourite designers for both girls and boys. With the upcoming Summer collection releasing any day now a full year will be complete and Andrea is hosting a Summer KAL!

Woah the years just keep getting busier! BUT I’m really excited for May to have come around, as I have rather an exciting trip planned! I’m going to be getting off the farm, on a plane, and heading up to Corvallis, OR and Carnation, WA to teach at Stash and Tolt Yarn and Wool!! I’ll be going on about my love for short rows at Stash, and a wonderful all day class getting to know the Stories from Snoqualmie Valley shawl pattern at Tolt! You can find all the details below!!

In between preparing for my trip and other life’s goings on I’ve decided to cast on my very own Snoqualmie Valley shawl! I had originally planned to go with some Fern Fiber yarn I purchased last year – some of their most wonderful ‘local’ Suffolk/Alpaca fiber, but found myself hesitating on the colour (not to mention the ‘only just enough’ yardage) and I felt the cabling might get lost in the rich deep dye of the Sumac Berries. It seemed Nikki and Maria could hear me over here as it was just a few days later that they released another yarn update, this time including another beautiful batch of their local blend. Again Suffolk and Alpaca, but in this gorgeous caramel brown. I believe undyed. I cast on just this morning and I’m already completely smitten! This is going to be one big cosy shawl! (and check out that stunning stitch marker ❣)

I’m a little behind in this space! Early spring is a full time here on the farm – lots of goats kidding, which means many more mouths to feed and new mums in the milking parlor! But I’m squeezing in this new hat pattern Earlyrising. It’s a little celebration of hard work, early mornings, and beautiful farm yarn. The 100% Shetland Wool comes from Tammy’s amazing flock at Wing and a Prayer Farm. Farmers can’t help but connect over the lifestyle, challenges, and achievements farming brings us, and it feels so appropriate to share this work-horse of a hat at such an intense time of year for anyone with livestock.

We’ve also decided to have a knit-along! Earlyrising is 20% off (no code needed) until Valentines day, as its the PERFECT gift for your partner… and we all know we like our men in hand knits! I highly recommend using Wing & A Prayer Farm’s 100% Shetland yarn, otherwise use this opportunity to support another true farm yarn local to you! We will start today and try finish by the end of the month! There is a ravelry thread here to share our progress, and we are using hashtag #EarlyrisingKAL across social media.

♡♡ 20% off until Valentines Day!! No code needed ♡♡

One last pattern release of the year; Bracken!! A speedy little sweater I designed for Little Woolens – it really will be the quickest sweater you have ever made! It features Brooklyn Tweed’s new(ish) yarn Quarry, and worked on two contrasting sizes of needles it creates these super squish two row furrows – a stitch pattern I am now obsessed with!

Louella was missing a straightforward layer in her wardrobe, but I didn’t have the time to spend hours working away on a something, so I immediate picked up some Quarry. I wanted to design something easy to make and wear, but had a little flare. So whilst Bracken is a simple top down raglan worked completely in stockinette (and inside out) for the girlie version I added in some a-line shaping and the always-fun dropped back hem. The boy’s version has no body shaping. This is a close fitting design so I recommend choosing a size based on chest size, and referring to the schematic. The boy style is based off the girl’s slim-fit so you might consider going up a size for a more relaxed boy fit. Whats more, you can make the sweater completely reversible use the split-slice join, as suggested by Brooklyn Tweed in their Quarry PDF here!

Yarn: 1 (2, 2, 2, 2)(3, 3, 3, 4) skeins Brooklyn Tweed Quarry; 100% wool; 200 yds, 100 gms, Boy version shown in ””Lazulite”, Girls version in “Sulphur”, or, 187 (239, 275, 322, 380)(436, 509, 548, 643) yds / 171 (219, 252, 295, 348)(399, 466, 502, 588) meters bulky weight yarn.
Sizes: 6m (12m, 18m, 2yr, 4yr)(6yr, 8yr, 10yr, 12yr)
Finished Chest
Chest: 19 (20.25, 21, 22.25, 23.5)(24.5, 26.5, 27.75, 29.5)” / 48.5 (51.5, 53.5, 56.5, 59.5)(62, 67.5, 70.5, 75) cm

  Get 20% off all Little Woolens patterns – including Bracken – until midnight tonight using code “GIFTKNIT”! Happy last minute gift knitting!!!