Looks fury!

Fun 60s inspired shoulder wrap with little tails...NO - no mink died for this one. 
I used Cascade El Cielo, actually you might overlook this yarn but it's beautiful! 
You have to work with two strands held together to achieve this angora like look. 

I called the pattern MINK STOLE and you can find it on Ravelry.

THE Trifecta

I love this piece!
It can be worn in so many ways! And it will fit so many sizes as well!

First you can enjoy a super easy knit suitable for beginners and of course any experienced knitter.
It makes a great knit for long car rides or when you sit with the kids at a soccer game.

I enjoy working with Blue Sky Fibers   yarn WOOLSTOK, a great, squishy worsted weight yarn in beautiful colors. One can only love it!

You can find the pattern on Ravelry:
THE Trifecta

 

Kate Middleton Angora Bolero/Shrug

I really love it when I get to see the finished garments knitted from my patterns. And this one especially! This bolero is knitted from my Royal Wedding Shrug Pattern. This wedding took place in Scotland. I feel so honored!
I know there are more patterns out there but I still like mine the best. It is not a 100% copy of the bolero Kate Middleton wore on her wedding day but it is something that even the not so experienced knitter could tackle and you don't have to pick up stitches around the fronts which can ruin the look immensely. 
I know the purchase price for the angora yarn is high but you can still wear the bolero after the big day. Also - no future queen would have worn something made out of cheap material. 
As an alternative for the angora yarn I would recommend two strands of a lace weight mohair yarn held together, e. g. Rowan Kidsilk Haze yarn which comes in many beautiful colors as well, the bridesmaids could wear a matching colored bolero! 
Thank you Enid for choosing my pattern and sending me these gorgeous pictures!

Increasing Waves

Noro Silk Garden! Five skeins and five attempts to come up with the perfect project. It started out as an easy triangular wrap but because of the long rows the color changes appeared too often and made the shawl look rather striped than pretty. More attempts followed and finally the right project appeared. 

I am very happy with it! Starting out with only 6 stitches you gradually have to increase the waves and the center and the short rows add the waves. For the short row technique I picked the "Double Stitch" method which so far I had only used on socks. The "Wrap &Turn" method left long open stitches which could look good but I wasn't so thrilled about it. 

Here is a video where you can see how the Double Stitch is worked:

Double Stitch Video

As always the pattern is available for purchase as download. 

*** BUY HERE ***

Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride - A New Favorite!

It is the season for warm clothing. I love it.

With my yellow lab girl Ivy I am going to the dog park almost every day and wind proof items are definitely a must. So I started with mittens....with a touch of sparkle....and because I test knit my projects myself I made more...which led to a stash of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky.
Then I had a beautiful green, a coral read and a light beige in a bag and they wanted to be used together...so no mittens there. They got united in cowl! A bit christmasy but awesome!

No wind can go through this little wonder. I called it Truffles Cowl and the pattern is available on Ravelry. BUY HERE . So I still had a stash of green yarn and turned into another headband pattern, this time one in crochet. The bulky weight yarn makes this a super fast project and anyone can do this in a couple of hours. I got great feedback on Etsy from someone who has not crocheted in years and she was able to make one. Love it!

Here is the link to the pattern Fast Crochet Headband Kayla Pattern
I am ready for winter to come! Enjoy the season!

New Garter Stitch Shawl/Scarf/Wrap

There are just too many ways to wrap this piece so I finally gave up taking pictures. The yarn is fun to work with, too! A new 100% Merino yarn made by Schoppel Wolle from Austria, a self striping fingering weight yarn: Zauberball

And the best of it: only knit stitch! I called this shawl "Travelling Ruffles" because I knitted almost everything while on the go which makes this the perfect travel companion! The pattern is really super easy to remember. 
I think I will be making more garter stitch projects! 

Seeing Red! Wisconsin Badger Band Come Back!

After making 10 red headbands in a row from my own Begonia Headband Pattern I have to admit that I have seen a lot of red for a while. But it is for a great cause! My local yarn store Iris Fine Yarns is having a fundraiser to bring back the Wisconsin Badger Band at the Flag Day Parade 2013.
There will be hats in all sizes as well for sale at the October Fest Downtown Appleton on September 28/29. Let's hope for sunshine and lots of people to support this great idea.