quick + purly: 5 square shawls

Now that summer is squarely upon us (no pun intended), and the Solstice arrives on Sunday, I'm looking for some travel knitting. For me travel knitting means shawls: one skein of beautiful laceweight yarn that squishes easily into my purse or carryon + one long circular needle so that no stitches will be lost + one compelling pattern.

Have you ever worked a square shawl? What's your favorite on-the-go type of knitting?

Here are a few that caught my eye this week.

1. Life Cycle by Laura Nelkin $7 USD 

   

   Gorgeous progression of patterns

2. Alcove my Mam'zelle Flo €5 EUR 

   

   Perfect travel knitting with the garter stitch center

3. legacy square shawl by bunnymuff $5.99 USD 

   

   Swoony stitch patterns
   Be careful with those beads when traveling, though!

4. Spider Queen by Hazel Carter $8 USD 

   

   The pattern page picture does not do this beauty justice -
   be sure to check out the projects pages!

5. Poinsettia Shawl 401 by Lucy Neatby $12 CAD 

   

   Clever structure and beautiful stitch patterns

And I can't forget the square "travel" shawl I designed for myself a few years back: Hap-py (updated pattern layout coming soon!) $7 USD. I just loved knitting this one!

Easy-to-remember center and edgings
make this perfect social knitting

There are plenty more beauties in this category. Click here to see for yourself.

So, what travel knitting do you have planned for the summer? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy knitting!

xoxo,

Pattern: Wench

Wench $7 on Ravelry (no account necessary)

A saucy lass deserves an easy-to-knit and easy-to-wear pullover for warmer weather. The drape of the finished linen fabric will win you over, keeping you cool yet covered. This sweater was inspired by the shifts that all women used to wear, but now you can show it off! With picot edgings and drawstrings at neck and wrists, you’ll look just a bit fancy while feeling supremely comfortable.

What you'll love about knitting Wench

• matching picot cast-on and bind-off - ooh, pretty, matchy-matchy!
• easy knitting - just three tubes! 
• knitting with linen yarn is perfect for Summer - I don't know about you, but I find wool can be sticky on the hands when it's hot and humid outside 

What you'll love about wearing Wench

• the way this fabric drapes
• the feminine details of picot hems and adjustable drawstrings at neck and cuffs 
• that you can wear this all Summer long, no sweat! 

Size/Finished Measurements
Women’s XS [S, M, L, 1X, 2X, 3X] (shown in size M with 2" of positive ease)
Chest: 30 [34, 38, 42, 46, 50, 54]"
Length: 21 [21½, 22, 22¼, 22½, 22¾, 23]"

Materials

• Louet Euroflax Sport Weight [100% wet-spun linen 270 yards/247 meters per 100 gram skein]; color: Neptune; 3 [3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6] skeins
• US8/5.0mm 29-inch circular needle; US8/5.0mm 16-inch circular needle or DPNs; US8/5.0mm/Size H crochet hook
• Waste yarn or stitch holders
• Stitch marker(s)
• Tapestry needle
• 3 yards/2.75 meters 1/4-inch/0.635cm ribbon or crocheted cords

Gauge
16 sts x 22 rows = 4" wide x 4" high in Stockinette Stitch

Back when the kids were little!
Also pictured, Captain Austen's Scarf, Deckhand, and Night Watch Cap

Skills Needed

• Casting on
• Binding off
• Working in the round
• Knitting
• Increasing
• Decreasing
• Working a crochet chain (optional)

Thanks!
Technical editing: Joeli Caparco

Everything you need to create your own beautiful Wench is provided in the professionally designed (by me!) pattern.

Lovely knitters who purchased this pattern when it was originally released should have received a message from Ravelry that the updated version of the pattern is now in your library. Don't miss the special customer coupon code!



Thanks for stopping by, and happy knitting!
xoxo,

Kellynch Cardigan update

Before "the teachers let the monkeys out", I finished up my Kellynch Cardigan. Whoohoo!

If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen these pics over the past few months, but I wanted to do a little review here on the ol' blog.

As you may recall, I had a little bit of an adventure with the yarn (madelinetosh tosh merino light in Envy). When doing a little yarn crawl with my fantastic cousin back in March, we could only find two skeins, but I HAD to have them. Then I was back at Knitty City the following week for something completely different, and we ended up looking through a bag of madtosh (oh, heaven!) and found a third skein of Envy where it should not have been (bags are grouped by dominant color).

So excited that we found a third skein of TML in Envy @knittycity today! Now I can start knitting a #kellynchcardigan for me. KAL, anyone?

A photo posted by Kathleen Dames (@kathleendames) on Mar 11, 2015 at 11:00am PDT

What better way to start Spring Break than with a Kellynch Cardigan KAL (need my own and this Envy color called my name).

A photo posted by Kathleen Dames (@kathleendames) on Mar 14, 2015 at 6:52am PDT

So, I knit away on the stockinette portions, knowing that the lace yoke was going to be so. much. fun. And it was! Definitely expect this structure to show up in another pattern some time.

Love the slipped stitch edge of the button bands. #kellynchcardigan #JaneAustenKnits

A photo posted by Kathleen Dames (@kathleendames) on Mar 20, 2015 at 7:49am PDT

Kellynch Cardigan - all finished but the buttons. #kellynchcardigan #knittersofinstagram

A photo posted by Kathleen Dames (@kathleendames) on May 23, 2015 at 9:04am PDT

To make the whole thing even better, I found the most perfect buttons at M&J Trimming while shopping for buttons for the forthcoming Jane Austen Knits (publication month: November 2015).

You wanted to see the buttons, right? #kellynchcardigan #buttonhunt

A photo posted by Kathleen Dames (@kathleendames) on May 23, 2015 at 9:05am PDT

The thing about the buttons is that, while they are shanked (my general preference), the holes for sewing them on were too small for any needles I have, or the eye of the needle was way too small for the yarn. I know I could have used sewing thread, but I didn't want to (I know some knitters prefer to sew their buttons on with thread, but I always worry the thread will cut through the yarn of the button band). And then I realized I had a wee crochet hook from a beaded knitting project that might work...

What do you do when your tapestry needle won't fit through your buttons' holes? Think like a bead knitter and use a minuscule crochet hook. #kellynchcardigan #buttonhunt

A photo posted by Kathleen Dames (@kathleendames) on May 23, 2015 at 12:03pm PDT

Et voila! Here's a Kellynch Cardigan just for me :)

Look who's all finished! Just in time for Summer weather to make the thought of wearing wool crazypants. She will keep though. #kellynchcardigan #janeaustenknits #buttonhunt Pattern available from interweavestore.com

A photo posted by Kathleen Dames (@kathleendames) on Jun 9, 2015 at 5:59am PDT

While I won't be able to publish the pattern in my Ravelry store until October, you can create your own from Jane Austen Knits 2014* (Interweave digital edition) or purchase the Interweave version of the pattern here*.

Thanks for stopping by and happy knitting!
xoxo,

*Those are Interweave affiliate links. If you purchase through one of those links, I receive a tiny commission. If you would rather buy the pattern from me directly, please sign up for my newsletter, and you'll be the first to know when it is available. If you would rather get to the pattern on your own, just type "kellynch cardigan interweave" into your favorite search engine :)

Wedding sweater: yarn

As you may know, my dear sister is getting married this August. Yay! At some point this Spring, she mentioned something about knitting a sweater to wear at the reception. Of course, I loved the idea! I started snapping pictures of every green yarn I came across.

Did she want wool or cotton or linen or silk? Berlin's weather is highly unpredictable in summer, and it will be an evening ceremony and reception. I encouraged wool, which would also give her plenty of opportunities to wear it after the wedding.

If she went with wool, I could find a hand-dye, which in my mind makes a garment more unique and personal: not only did someone knit the item by hand, but the yarn itself was dyed by hand. (And if you're a spinner, you know that the ultimate personalized knitted item is crafted from hand spun, but I'm holding off on learning to spin. For now.)

In the end I found a couple of gorgeous skeins of Neighborhood Yarns sock yarn in Fells Point at Knitty City, and I will be knitting a sweater for my sister as a wedding gift. I plan to document the process of designing and crafting this cardigan for her here, and hope you will enjoy following along.

This yarn is SO my sister!

Yummy cakes ready for swatching

Thanks for stopping by, and happy knitting!

xoxo,

Pattern upgrades coming, well, all summer!

It's time for all my patterns to be upgraded to the same attractive, easy-to-use layout, don't you think?

Since there are 26 backlist patterns in various layouts, I plan to work my way through upgrading the pattern PDFs this summer. I would love to hear from you which patterns you'd like to see all spruced up first. 

Do you have a favorite? Should I just go in alphabetical order (as seen below)? Oldest? Newest? Most hearts? Too many options!

row 1: An Aran for Anne, An Aran for Frederick, Aphros, Babe in the Mist, Bloc Pulli, Captain Austen's Scarf
row 2: Castaway Shawlette, Deckhand - Women's, Deckhand, Dennis, Hap-py, In the Shallows
row 3: Infinite, JOY garland, Matryoshka Japonais, Mermaid's Cardigan, Mermaid's Mitts, Night Watch Cap
row 4: On the High Seas, Sailor's Valentine, Upon the Spanish Main, Vines, Walk the Plank
row 5: Wavelette, Wench

This is something I can work on now that the kids are out of school (eep!).

If you already purchased one of these patterns, thank you! After the new version is loaded into Ravelry, you will receive a notification that your upgrade is waiting for you. Don't miss the special customer coupon code in the email!

So, let me know in the comments below which pattern you would like to see first.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy knitting!
xoxo,

P.S. Don't worry, there are new patterns in the pipeline, too! A small shawl is in testing, and I'm in the middle of writing up a pullover and cardigan, as well as designing a sweater for my sister for her wedding (yay!).

Summer Schedule

Dear ones,

Today marks the first day of my kids' school vacation and the beginning of a busy summer*, which is mostly "yay!" with a little bit of "eep!" thrown in for good measure. In order to stay sane, I am altering my blog schedule somewhat:

• quick + purly posts will come out on the first and third Friday of the month, so you can find some lovely new-to-you patterns to queue
• technique posts, FO-tastics, and other knit-related items I want to share with you will come out on Tuesdays, as well as the non-quick + purly Fridays
• my backlist re-release extravaganza will happen all summer long - not only will the patterns all be in the same, lovely layout, but I'll be able to share pattern highlights with you along the way (more on that this Friday)

Not publishing quick + purly posts weekly is the biggest change, but it should free up time for me to do more pattern writing. Hopefully, this will be the best of both worlds: seeking out new-to-me designs and designers to share with you plus publishing more of my new designs, all while spending time with the kids and doing a fair bit of traveling (follow me on Instagram to keep up with all of that - my trusty iPhone and I are looking forward to sharing all the beauty we can find this Summer*).

If there are quick + purly categories you would like me to explore, let me know in the comments. As a, mostly, adult garment and accessory designer, I tend to go there first, but I love a good baby knit as much as the next person.

*Any travel advice for Athens and Santorini, midcoast Maine, or Berlin is welcome. Sunscreen recommendations (we are a pale group), favorite LYSes, can't-miss restaurants, magical book stores (new and used), jetlagged-kids suggestions, special beaches and parks, etc.

As always, thanks for stopping by, and happy knitting!

xoxo,

Benwick Cardigan KAL

As I look ahead to the rest of the year, I see that it is time to self-publish my lovely Benwick Cardigan. But! I can't fit into the wee sample originally published in Jane Austen Knits, Fall 2013. What's a designer to do? Well, I could hire a model or buy a sample-sized dress form or knit one for myself. While I live uptown from ModelLand, at this point I prefer to model my designs, since they are very personal. Living in a New York City apartment, I'm not exactly keen on adding more stuff to the apartment. So, knitting one for me it is!

The original pattern was worked in String Theory's DK yarn, which was lovely to work with, though possibly on the challenging side to photograph. String Theory's two dyers decided to go their separate ways last year, and one of the dyers remained "String Theory", while the other formed a new dye studio called Seven Sisters Arts. I plan to knit the new Benwick in SSA's Corona DK.

There are quite a few special touches to Benwick:

• Aran braids (same stitch pattern) along horizontal and vertical edges, as well as in epaulet form on the shoulder saddles
• Hook-and-eye closures harken back to Regency-era Naval wear
• Heart on your sleeve
• Saddle shoulder construction
• Crisp collar
• Straight fit to the body, though waist shaping could be worked here if desired
• Body and sleeves are worked flat for gauge consistency, while the saddle shoulder yoke joins sleeves and body together seamlessly

So, who wants a Benwick of their very own? I'd love some company in a knitalong as I work up my own sample. The Jane Austen Knits version of the pattern is currently available from Interweave here*. It may take me a bit to get my yarn and begin (we've got some upcoming travel plans that are not conducive to having a pile of wool in my lap), so we have a few weeks to get ourselves sorted.

Let me know in the comments below, via email at kathleendames at gmail dot com, or on Ravelry, if you'd care to join me.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy knitting!
xoxo,

*That is an affiliate link for Interweave, from which I will earn a micropayment if you purchase the pattern through that link. I only provide affiliate links to items of mine that you cannot get through my Ravelry store. You can easily bypass the link by typing "Benwick pattern" into your favorite search engine.