Pattern: Captain Austen's Scarf (reissue)

A cozy scarf is a must for walking the deck of your ship, and what better way to dress it up than with a little of Frank Austen's fringe? He worked the very same fringe (on some curtains) while on shore leave with his sister Jane. Luscious, bulky Malabrigo Twist makes for a quick knit, and the reversible Seaweed stitch pattern will keep your interest until it's tie to tie that fringe and board your ship.

I originally released Captain Austen's Scarf last fall, but when putting together the collection Avast No. 1, I realized it belonged here and brought it to the photo shoot. Doesn't it look great on Stephen?

Captain Austen's Scarf $4

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Captain Austen's Scarf is also part of the new ebook Avast No. 1: eight patterns for piratical knitters.

Avast No. 1 $25

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Pattern: Babe in the Mist

 

Wrap your littlest buccaneer in a blanket of Mist Drops to keep baby safe from discovery, whether on board ship or tucked away on a desert island. Every edge of this cozy cover undulates so baby will become accustomed to the waves, and both sides of this pattern are beautiful, so no worries about which side is best. A washable wool blend makes this a practical, not-too-heavy, and easy-to-care for blanket for your babe.

Babe in the Mist uses approximately 500 yards of Berocco's Vintage

Pattern is charted and written out, and includes helpful notes to get you started.

Skills Needed 
Casting on 
Binding off 
Knitting 
Purling 
Increasing 
Decreasing

Babe in the Mist $5 
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Babe in the Mist is also part of the new ebook Avast No. 1: eight patterns for piratical knitters.

Avast No. 1 $25

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Pattern: Aphros

Aphros (Greek for “sea foam”) is an airy and elegant stole that can serve as cover for your evening gown or over-sized scarf for your everyday ensemble. Gently undulating seafoam stitch, simple yet beautiful, forms the body, while a knitted-on lacy edging adds a graceful flourish to the ends.

Lace is a wonderful project for travel—one ball of yarn, one set of (or circular) needles —whether you’re flying across the country or washed up on a deserted island. Plus, it's not too heavy or woolly in your lap.

Pattern is written and charted, and includes helpful notes for getting started. If you can perform a yarnover and work two stitches together, you can produce this lovely stole.

Skills Needed Casting on
Binding off
Knitting
Purling
Increasing
Decreasing
Reading charts
Lace

Aphros $5

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Aphros is also part of the new ebook Avast No. 1: eight patterns for piratical knitters.

Avast No. 1 $25
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Aloha!

Greetings from beautiful Maui! We've had a lovely week here, lots of swimming in the pool, enjoying the sun before it gets too intense (Isobel got a light sunburn on her nose and cheeks on day two - very mild, and we've been extra-vigilant everywhere/when else since). I do wish we could just buy a vat of zinc and titanium dioxide and dip everyone in it a few times a day.

As you may have seen on Ravelry the other day, I've released half of the patterns for my first booklet, Avast No. 1, and the other half should be ready to go next week (a couple are out for tech edit, and I need a few more photographs for the other two - my smallest model is proving somewhat recalcitrant, and there is no arguing with a two-year-old, however close to three). So, I will be blogging about Wench, Night Watch Cap, Aphros, and the reissue of Captain Austen's Scarf over the next few days.

If you can't wait until the booklet is released and buy a pattern now, I will be happy to send you a coupon for the pattern price off the book. But that offer will only be good for people who buy individual patterns before the booklet is available.

In the meantime, Aloha! from Isobel, Stephen, and me - Nick was behind the camera, and Penelope was sitting at on the steps down to the beach complaining about the sand.

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Bright and early tomorrow morning we're off to Hawaii. Hopefully the flights won't be too onerous, though I'm not holding my breath with three kids. Luckily, we're meeting up with the rest of Nick's family in SF and doing the second leg together - to a zone defense family, there is nothing like the prospect of man-to-man-plus (the plus being that there will be six adults to four kids while we're there).

I'm excited because I've planned a photo shoot during our trip for my first pattern booklet. All eight patterns have been knit (two need a quick tech edit), and they're tucked away in my carry-on. I'm still working on the layout of the booklet, which is the part I'm supposed to be good at. My goal is to have everything ready to drop by the end of the month, especially since I managed to snag a Ravelry Notebook ad spot (absolutely no idea how I managed that, since I was just checking possible ads, and there it was). Apologies in advance if you get tired of my ad ;)

The collection is called Avast and will contain Aphros (a stole that has been waiting it's turn for quite some time), a baby blanket like my nephew's, Captain Austen's Scarf, a unisex child's sweater, a pair of laceweight mitts, Night Watch Cap (as seen back in March), a pair of worsted weight socks, and Wench (a women's linen sweater from the old blog). I think it's a good mix, and the patterns are filled with my usual chatty (and hopefully helpful) pattern notes. I've chosen lightweight yarns (linen, cotton, some laceweight superwash wool) and/or small-ish projects - perfect for summer I hope. And I hope this will be the first of a number of collections I produce, though this will probably be the only one with a Hawaiian photoshoot!

Have a great week, and I'll try to get back to blogging more often this summer.

Yay! And something for Father's Day

Finally, the sweater is in its bath. Goodness, has this been a labor. But I am very happy with the finished product and plan to be even happier with the blocked piece. The last few nights I've closed my eyes and seen various design elements behind my lids. This thing was like the knitting equivalent of Sudoku - lots of things to keep track of all at the same time. And that's just the knitting - the pattern is still a bunch of notes and charts and numbers - I plan to spend Thursday writing while the kiddies are at school. In the meantime it's taking its bath and getting ready to dry out, which may take a few days considering that the humidity was 100% this morning. Reminded me of Houston in August. I hope when it comes out that you like it!

Speaking of which, I had a nice comment the other day asking where to find Jane Austen Knits when it comes out. Pamela, silly blogger didn't pass along your email address, so I couldn't reply directly. To the best of my knowledge Jane Austen Knits will be available from your LYS and to order directly from Interweave. I will be sure to post more information once I know more.

Once the writing is complete, I'll be able to get back to some other projects that have been on hold. Actually, it's more like when I had to write a paper in college. I couldn't start right away. I would have to think on the subject then ignore it, put it in the back of my head and go about my business. A few days later, and only then, I could sit down and pour my thoughts out. So, I have two more small projects that I would like to do before releasing a pattern booklet.

Yup, this experience with working on deadline has reinforced my inclination to self-publish. There will be a couple of sweaters, something each for the head, hands/arms, legs/feet, a couple of lacy neck/shawl items, and a blanket. There's still a bit of work to be done, but I'll keep you posted.

And I mentioned Father's Day... It seems to sneak up on me, coming just a couple of weeks after my dad's birthday and often right after school gets out. But if you're looking for a good gift that could even be almost last minute, how about my Dennis pattern? I saw this bit in the Wall Street Journal Saturday pairing knitted ties with handsome checked shirts. Rather than handing your hard-earned money over to Ralph or the good people of Brioni ($195?!), why not make your own? I'm thinking of making one for myself (some day). Since the original was for my dad, I still have to come up with something for him.

Mother's Day

I hope you all had a lovely Mother's Day and/or made much of your mother on Sunday (if you're in the US - I know Mothering Sunday is different in the UK, and Mother's Day happens at the end of May in France; elsewhere, I am uninformed). I had a lovely day with Nick and the girls, including sleeping in (the best present!), french macarons from Bouchon Bakery, and sushi for dinner. Really, pretty great.

But the best part came yesterday, when Nick (who is done teaching for the semester) and I had to leave our apartment while some painters touched up cracks in the ceiling and some water damage in the corner of our bedroom. So, we hied over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see Savage Beauty. (Once when visiting New York in my twenties, I asked a cab driver to take me to "the Met", and he asked me if I meant the museum or the opera house - couldn't he tell that I was "arty"?)

The show, the whole museum, in fact, was crowded. But the show was amazing and completely worth it. My only beef was that some of the pieces were displayed so that you could only see one side, leaving me crazy to know what the front (or back) of the piece looked like. Other pieces were displayed on the fancy, art museum equivalent of lazy susans or displayed in mirror-backed cases so that you could see a reflection or peek around the back.

My favorite pieces included "Oyster", which I've always loved - it is also in my copy of 100 Dresses, the pieces made out of actual sea shells, and the gilded duck feather coat from McQueen's final collection. What was interesting to me was to see that his signature elements were there from the very beginning: the bumster pants, the high collars, the exaggerated hips and shoulders, really, the drama. Beautiful, repellant, thought-provoking, clever, weird.

To make the show complete, I brought home the catalog, which is also a little weird. I read about the production of it some time ago, and it is interesting, but I would have liked something a little less of an art piece, and a little more informative. All the pieces were photographed on live models covered in makeup. Then the photographs were altered to make the pieces look as if they were on mannequins (hinged wrists and waists). But there was only one view of all but a few pieces, and all the information about the pieces (title, show/season, materials, owner) is at the back. I still want to see the back of the buttoned-up jacket from Joan! There is an interesting history of McQueen at the front of the book, as well as an interview with Sarah Burton at the back. But I want moremoremore. I want a documentary or a DVD compilation of all his shows.

I was, however, thrilled to see the pieces from the last collection (colloquially known as Angels and Demons). The aforementioned duck feather coat, as well as the printed angel gown. And I had forgotten about The Girl Who Lived in the Tree collection, which was beautiful and fairy-tale romantic. Again, there was a piece that I wanted to see the back of, but what can you do? The calendar, which has Oyster for May-August and then follows with 18 months of beauty, also came home with me.

To cap off the morning, I had a cupcake and salted caramel milkshake from a truck for lunch (what? the kids were at school) and bought some Madeline Tosh sock yarn (Window Pane and Tomato - awesome turquoise and red/orange - might even do something stranded with the two together) at Annie & Company, a yarn store at Madison and 93rd, which I hadn't managed to get to before now. All in all, a super day.

Work continues on my publication project (knitknitknit), and the pattern writing will commence soon (lots of notes, and the charts need to be edited). Now that I have this pretty new yarn, I'm looking forward to finishing this project and playing!