Today’s main blog post pic is the swatch version I knitted for my submission for the August Moebius Cowl. It’s called August Moebius Cowl, because August Moebius was the name of the man who discovered this amazing mathematical shape! The design is now out in The Knitter (issue 227), complete with a step-by-step masterclass on how to work Rita Buchanan’s moebius cast-on. It’s not as well known as Cat Bordhi’s method, but I think it is quick to learn and slightly easier to get to grips with for those who have never worked a moebius cast-on before.
I was hoping to be able to share my new design in issue 193 of Knit Now with you this week, but there was a delay with its publication. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and checking the shelves regularly! I can’t wait to share that one with you as well.
I’ve completed a couple of projects this week. Neither of them are ‘new new’, but they are new versions of existing patterns, both worked in a different weight yarn from the original design.
First off the needles was my grey 4ply version of What Do Points Make? in size 3. I’m really pleased with this and I’m looking forward to seeing it blocked and seamed and comparing it to the bright 4ply size 4 sample as these yarns were very different even though they are both marketed as 4ply yarns. The grey has 220m/50g (or 440m/100g) and the bright yarn from LottieKnits is a more chunky 4ply at 360m/100g, which is quite a big difference.
Next to be completed was my DK version of Into The Vortex. I completed this while waiting for my car to be serviced. Current me is very glad that past me put lots of guidance into the pattern in Part 7 about what to do when you’re running low on one of your yarns. I skipped half of Part 7, jumped to the Eyelet Border and only did one repeat of the eyelets rather than two. This was because I wanted to see how big I could make the shawl using just 100g of Yarn A, which is RiverKnits Chimera DK. The answer, unsurprisingly, was about 16 rows shorter than the original small 4ply version. The extra guidance in the pattern was to allow for other knitters working on a looser tension or having a skein of yarn that was slightly underweight (that does occur sometimes!) and it was incredibly helpful here too.
I’m also still working on a new sample of Ice Diamond Mitts. This pattern was written for an undyed worsted weight roving yarn with 200m/100g and I wanted to make a sample in a coloured yarn. I’m glad I’ve been doing this as I’ve also discovered a couple of typos in the process!
My first attempt in red was too loose and too long, despite this yarn also being 200m/100g and using the same needle size. My second attempt in green was also too loose and a little bit too long, even though this yarn was thinner as a DK yarn (225m/100g) and on the same needle size as the original. So, I’m trying for a third time using the red yarn again, but with smaller needles this time. So far the fabric and tension looks like a better match to the original.
I’m also altering the pattern slightly this time, shortening the cuff and the body of the mitt because I noticed that the pattern says the large size used 55g of the original yarn. That wasn’t a problem with a 100g skein. However, this red yarn (Cambrian Wool) comes in 50g balls so it would be really annoying to need to start a second ball just for 5g of it. My plan is to adapt the large size so I can make a pair out of just one ball, including a 10% buffer – which means I need to ditch 10g worth of yarn by making the mitts shorter! They were incredibly long to be fair, which might be one of the reasons why the pattern has never sold particularly well.
We are just sorting out the last bits of printing and planning for Wonderwool Wales this weekend and I am really looking forward to being there on the stand and teaching my Introduction to Two-Colour Brioche Knitting each afternoon.
My brioche workshops are sold out at Wonderwool (and at The Wool Monty), but there are spaces available for this class at the Midlands Wool Festival (14th and 15th July, at Wolverhampton Racecourse), the North East Wool Show (9th August, at Newcastle Racecourse) and Stafford Wool Gathering (17th October, Staffordshire County Showground).
The weekend after Wonderwool Wales is Yarnies at the Flaxmill, and I am due to be teaching there as well! The workshop at that show is for Stranded Knitting and the fabulous deal at this show is that when you buy a workshop place you get your entry to the show included at no extra cost!
That’s all for this week – I’m off to redesign the cover of one of my older patterns (Calon Cariad) so it fits my ‘house style’ and so the picture on the front cover of the pattern matches the sample on display! Take care and I hope you manage to do some stuff that makes you happy. K x